A Massive Problem
by DeanneYunFarron
Summary: What do you get when you throw me, a cynical smartass, into a battle for the fate of the universe? You get a serious problem. Why I'm helping to fight a war I have nothing to do with is beyond me, but I'm here now, and it's better then just sitting around complaining about everything.
1. Till The World Ends

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Mass Effect, or its trilogy, or the characters, or the universe, or anything. I own only my OC, and any others I may introduce, and that's it. And that's cool.**

**Author's Note: Hello. How's everyone doing? Good, good. I know that Self Inserts have been overplayed, but I recently started a new Mass Effect game (I own all of them) and am currently on the last one with my new FemShep. I was inspired to add in my own character to the Mass Effect universe because of this. So, I hope you will enjoy. I actually wasn't even planning on posting this on the site, but I figured, hey, why the hell not? Happy reading!**

**P.S. Yes, the title comes from the Britney Spears song :D I was listening to it as I finished this first chapter.**

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**Chapter One: Till the World Ends**

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Okay. Let me start off by seriously stressing the fact that, had I not been the type of person who was generally unfazed by anything extreme that happened to either them or anyone or anything around them, I would have been a far more frantic, jumpy and all-around nervous woman. I mean, really. Most of the shit that's happened to me in my life has not been necessarily extreme. In fact, rather far from extreme. Yet, the events that are currently taking place would be enough to break most people. Not that I'm dissing the general populace. Simply put, the human mind is not exactly great at adapting to things normal life would usually steer far from. Things such as dismemberment, death, revitalization (or is it resurrection? I never really understood the difference between the two, as my college English professors would often interchange them), etc. Just to name a few. Now, don't get me wrong. I know that there are those individuals who can handle them quite nicely. That being said, such individuals are trained to do so, usually at an early age, due to adolescent years being the period of time where people undergo the trials and tribulations that will have the greatest impact in shaping who they are for the remainder of their years, or something like that (I probably got all of that really wrong, but whatever). So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, as a whole, a human's mind was not designed to witness such brutal, or non-brutal acts, dependent on who you're asking. That's just the way life is. Plain and simple. Nothing more, nothing less.

That being said, and after I do my best at explaining what the F is happening to me right now, you're probably going to say something like, "This chick is lying," or "There's no way she can just coast through something like this," or maybe, "What the hell is she smoking?" I do not lie (ninety percent of the time), I do tend to coast on life (I even own a special surfboard for it, being a Cali girl and all), and I don't smoke, as my ass-mar likes to act up at the most inconvenient times (10th grade was certainly an interesting year). Now that I've put your questions to rest, hopefully, let me take you back to when it started.

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_**-Flashback (sort of)-**_

* * *

"Yes, Ma, I'm studying," I stated.

"_I don't think so, little missy. I can hear the music in the background."_

"I always study with music, you know that. Besides, even if I wasn't studying, I have been for most of the day. I think I've earned a break, if I were taking one," I smartly replied.

"_Smartass. I swear, you'd think turning twenty-one would wiggle that out of you."_

I chuckled. "Come on, Ma. Being a smartass is what I'm best at. It keeps you and Grandma on your toes, yeah? And don't try to deny it, you love having a daughter that's intelligent enough to be a smart smartass, and not a dumb one."

"_Yes, well, don't spread it around."_

"No promises. On a side note, how are the little monsters?"

"_You know, I feel that if they knew, my students would resent being called little monsters."_

"But that's the beauty of it all. Anyway, it's not like I'm lying. I really don't know how you do it. Teaching first-graders looks like a hell of a hard task. And you are definitely not the most patient person I know."

"_Me? Not patient? Oh, perish the thought, my dear. Patience is my middle name."_

"You don't have a middle name, remember? Contrary to what you think, I do actually listen to what you say. Some of the time."

"_Some of the time, indeed. Well, I need to get back to it. Your grandmother and I are going to Las Vegas for our twenty-third anniversary, and I haven't started packing yet. It was great to hear your voice, sweetie. You should call more often."_

"I know, but this whole college thing that I'm doing? It actually takes up quite a bit of my time."

"_I truly don't understand how your friends put up with the constant sarcasm."_

"Years of practice, Ma. If they're not used to it by now, well, that's a damn shame."

"_If you say so. Okay, I'm going to let you go. I can hear your grandmother yelling at me about something. I love you, honey. I'll call again when we're in Vegas."_

"I love you too, Ma. And say the same to Grandma, please? Thanks. Hugs and kisses. Bye."

I ended the call and rubbed my eyes, yawning widely. Damn, was I tired. I hadn't been lying when I said college was taking up a lot of my time. I was only a semester away from graduating with a bachelor's in biology. My hope was to continue on with admission into a veterinarian college, receive a doctorate degree, and either join a clinic of some sort, or open up my own. I'm far from being the smartest, or the most motivated, or the most serious person, but when it comes to animals, there's just something about them. I want to help every animal I see that it is in need of it, and my parents always said animals trusted me. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that I'm much gentler with animals then I am with people. Sue me.

Unfortunately, as my graduation date grows nearer, I'm growing far more disillusioned with my chances. I was doing research, and found that veterinary school as just as competitive, and often more so, then medical school, with the acceptance rate being lower than half. I'm not just going to give up, of course, since I busted my ass these past four years to get good grades, as well as getting a job as a vet's assistant and volunteering at shelters when I was home for the holidays. I just wonder at what our world is coming to. Jobs are scarce, prices are going up everywhere, but salaries aren't, people are killing more often, hurting one another for no good reasons. I feel as if the world is just going to shit at times.

Of course, there is the good stuff life brings. And I always try to appreciate the little things, because who knows? I may not be here tomorrow, and I'll be damned if I die knowing I could have eaten that piece of cake that I passed up so I wouldn't 'get fat.' As it stands, I'm not fat. I was never one of those ridiculously skinny girls that stated they were fat even when you could see their ribs poking out, anyway. After I quit soccer, I did gain some weight, and I wasn't exactly happy with it, but I wasn't fat. I eventually decided, after four years, that I was going to get back into shape. And I did. I joined an intramural soccer team at my university, and even got into martial arts, something I'd always wanted to do when I was younger. It was a little late to start lessons, but hey, life's already short. I may have gotten my ass handed to me by kids half my age in the beginning, but I eventually got my shit together.

Exercise was only one aspect of my life, being such a complex individual as I am. One larger aspect, in fact, was personal hobbies. After all, since when is exercise a hobby? My two favorite hobbies? Reading and video games. Not in that order. I held neither above the other. Reading has been a part of my life since I was two, when I learned that the letters I saw on these objects that could be opened down the middle and flipped through were actually words, and that people would look at them for various purposes. Video games came in a few years later, when my mother decided that the time had come to bust out her old Sega gaming console and teach her little daughter how to move a joystick and mash buttons. First game? Paperboy, and to this day, it remains at the top of my list of favorites. Both reading and video games became my escape from reality, along with simply leaving the house and going for walks while enjoying the feel of the sun on my skin and the wind on my face. Cliché, but it's the truth.

It wasn't until about fourth grade that I realized that the world was indeed round, not flat, that humans cannot fly like Superman, that fire can harm you, and that kids my age could be pretty vicious in their verbal abuses. Most youngsters of that age have not learned to lie, at least not very well, so the words they spit at me were uncensored and rather unkind. It was also in fourth grade that I learned, firsthand, of racism and sexism. Harsh lessons for a young one to have to learn, but hey, if not then, then when? Surely not when it's too late?

I shook my head, exasperated. I had a serious habit of slipping into monologues within my mind, often reflecting on some serious matter or another. My parents say it's a sign of intellect, as do my professors. Me? I think it's just a sign of me being way too damn serious sometimes. A twenty-one year old should not be fretting so much on the direction our simple world was taking, figuratively speaking, and more so on what party she was planning on attending this weekend, right? Well, for me, no. Not right. And all these thoughts didn't simply appear when I turned twenty-one, oh no, they've been invading my head like an army of Reapers since I was about fourteen. And before you start saying things along the lines of a fourteen year old not being old or mature enough to have thoughts like that, hold those statements. I'm not saying that they were necessarily oozing philosophical wisdom; I'm simply saying that they were there, in very basic and brief forms.

_Enough with the monologues, kid. You've got to get out a little more._

Even my conscience thought I was working myself a wee bit too much. That's saying something. For once, I figured I should listen to it. My genetics assignment will still be there when I get back.

I stood and stretched, hearing my joints crack. I sighed contentedly. Sometimes I feel like I'm part cat. This is ironic, because my mother abhors cats. I mean, she was up-in-arms when a particularly cocky feline decided to make a home in our backyard. I swear, if the cat hadn't wised up to the potentially psychotic woman that continuously referred to it as 'that little fuck', she would have stabbed it with her machete.

I don't exactly know what happened to that cat, but owing to the lack of blood and/or cat pieces littering our grass, I'd have to say, with confidence, that my mother was unable to murder the creature, and it had successfully escaped her.

And I'm glad for that, because in all honesty, I was definitely rooting for the cat.

She and I usually saw eye to eye on things, but cats were the one giant exception. I loved the lithe creatures; in fact, my friend Marcus had picked up a stray that was wandering our campus and took him in. He lived in an apartment, and technically, animals weren't allowed, but who was gonna rat on him? He was a 6'5", 225 lbs. football player. I was one of the few who actually knew about Mr. Muggles, and I had been sworn to secrecy.

Cats were actually a rarity around here. I suppose they didn't really like cold weather. Or maybe Spokane residents didn't really like cats. Whatever the reason, they were just not a common sight round these parts. Dogs were slightly more so, but not by much. Animals as a whole, in fact, were a very small populace in this city. There was a pet clinic right down the road from campus, and I truly wondered how many customers it received daily.

On my way to who knows where, I passed many faces. Most were familiar, and a few were not; I smiled all the same at each that flew by me, and it was returned, for the most part.

In retrospect, I recognized the major flaw that led to everything, but I had decided to ignore it this one fatal time. When I went for walks to clear my head, like I was doing now, I always ended up doing the opposite, returning to my room with even more questions than when I left. The major flaw was, when I did this, I completely tuned out from the rest of the world. Which is all fine and good when I'm in my room, with little hazard. However, when you're out in the big bad world, like on sidewalks and streets, there are potentially large hazards, not excluding other passerby and cars. And sometimes, there are bigger cars. And today, of all days, there was a semi driving on the main road that was parallel to our campus, probably on its way to the Safeway up the road.

Like I said, when you tune out in the world while not actually being set apart from it, it can lead to bad things. Such as, stepping out into the road without looking, when a big fucking semi, clearly not driving the 25 mph speed limit, is quickly approaching you. And, because the asshole behind the wheel is not even paying attention, instead preferring to continue texting his girlfriend about the location of their next sexual encounter, the big fucking semi does not slow down. Nor is its horn blown to alert you that it is, in fact, about to invade your very personal space.

So, people like you (actually me) get slammed into by said big fucking semi. And when gravity decides to exert its debatably earned dominance over your airborne body, it should really freaking hurt when your form gets reintroduced to the ground. Except, when it happened to me, it didn't hurt. Not even a little bit.

All that happened was I heard a lot of screaming, that may or may not have come from me, wheels screeching, a loud _thump!_ , and everything went black.

* * *

My eyes struggled open. A purely percussion symphony was playing in my head, but other than that, I was no worse for wear.

The only issue being, I had no idea where I was.

Everywhere I looked, I just saw grass and sky. The sun was also shining, and there was a rather large tree in the backdrop. It was a beautiful sight, and I took a long minute taking everything in, in spite of myself. I am a lover of nature, so it was a reflex.

"Hey."

I turned around quickly, startled to discover that I wasn't actually alone. I peered at my new companion, sizing him up. "Hey, yourself."

He stuck his hands in his pockets and scuffed at the grass. "You stuck here too, eh?"

I shrugged. "Not really sure where here is, but I guess. I just got here."

He nodded absently and removed one hand to thrust toward me. "You can call me Tyson. And I'm pretty sure we're in Limbo, or something."

"Susie's in the In-Between," I immediately whispered to myself.

Tyson frowned at me. "Who's Susie?"

I shook my head. "Forget it. Anyway, how long have you been here?"

"A few months, I think. I was caught in the cross fire between rival gangs in my hometown. It was stupid too. I was only trying to get home after going out with my buddies," he lamented.

"Yeah, that sucks. I was just going for a walk and I was hit by a semi. At least, I think that's what happened. Everything went down kind of fast," I replied.

He nodded again. "That's death for you. Happens in the blink of an eye, and you're left standing there saying, 'What the fuck just happened?'"

I chuckled. At least this guy has a sense of humor. It could be worse. "Are we the only ones here? Have you met anyone else?"

He nodded. "I've met others. But they've all moved on. As far as I know, it's just us two."

"Hmm. What about you? Know when you're moving on? Do you even want to?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think I'm just too damn pissed at the fact that I'm actually dead. There was so much more I wanted to do with my life. I guess you could say I'm still holding on, with a vice grip at that."

"I hear that. I was one semester away from graduating with my bachelor's in biology. After that, it was vet school for me."

"I wanted to be a neurosurgeon, actually. I was only a sophomore in college when this happened."

"A neurosurgeon, huh? My best friend wanted to do the same." Realizing Tyson and I actually had quite a bit in common, I sat him down and we talked for quite some time. I found out that he was nineteen when he died. He had been studying biology, like me, at New York University, of all places. He had two brothers and a sister. His dad walked out on them when he was twelve, and since he was the oldest, he helped his mom to take care of his younger siblings. His mom was a social worker, and had been engaged to her new boyfriend, Dale, at the time of his death.

In turn, I told him about my life, about my unofficial adoption at five weeks old, and the legal one at age thirteen. My mother was eighteen when she had me, and my father had been a gangster of some sort. Neither knew what to do with a child; as it stood, I was the product of a one night stand. My biological grandmother was married to my adoptive mother (they were only nine years apart). My adoptive brother was technically my biological uncle, but since we grew up together, we were siblings. I told him about my best friends, and how I'd moved from California to Washington to attend university.

We talked for hours. Interestingly enough, the sun did not move from its original point in the sky. Maybe time didn't actually pass here? Or maybe it did, but incredibly slow? Whatever the reason, it had been at its peak for quite some time.

"So, I have a question for you," Tyson said out of the blue. We had been sitting in silence for over a half hour.

"Shoot."

"Do you want to move on?"

I stared at the ground. "I'm not sure. I mean, I know I'm dead, that much is certain. But, at the same time, I feel like I shouldn't be here. Like I'm meant to be somewhere else. I can't really explain it, it doesn't even make sense to me. But I have this inherent feeling, you know?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, actually. But I get what you're saying." He looked up at the sun. "You know what? You haven't told me your name."

I smiled. "I was wondering when you'd catch on." I stuck out my hand. "Call me-."

In an instant, Tyson was gone, along with the grass and sky, the sun and the single tree. In their place was empty space. Literally space, like with stars and stuff.

I was just floating in it. "Hello?" I called. "Is anybody out there? Can anyone hear me? Where am I?"

"You're in the In-Between," a voice replied. The same voice then chuckled darkly.

"Tyson? Is that you?"

What materialized in front of me looked like Tyson, but darker and more twisted. He looked something like a modern day Grim Reaper. Instead of a robe and scythe, he was wearing dark pants with boots, with a white V-neck and a punk vest. His hair was now spiked, with frosted tips.

I laughed in spite of myself, disbelieving. "What, no scythe?"

He grinned. "No, I decided to trade that old thing in for these bad boys." He held up his fists. He was wearing brass knuckles.

"Just brass knuckles? Not very scary, Tyson," I taunted.

He shook his head. "You know, most people would be terrified of me."

"I just spent the last few hours getting to know you. You could be wearing a business suit, have no face whatsoever and abnormally long arms, and be completely albino, and I still wouldn't be afraid of you."

He chuckled. "Whatever. So, I got the impression from our talk that you were somewhat dissatisfied with the life you had."

I shook my head. "Not dissatisfied. Just, wishing I could have a more direct impact on the direction our world is heading in."

He scratched his chin. "More direct, eh? I think I have the perfect thing in mind." He clapped his hands and a purple vortex appeared beside him. He turned and gestured to it. "Step through, please."

"What? Why?"

"You say you want a more direct impact? Where you're headed will give you that, and more. Go on." He jerked his head toward the vortex impatiently.

"I don't trust you," I stated firmly.

"Trust has nothing to do with it. Just go through. I've got other shit to do, you know."

I crossed my arms, unmoving.

He sighed and disappeared. A second later, I felt a whoosh of air behind me. Then, I felt two hands shove me roughly in the back and I tumbled forward, right into the purple vortex.

My surroundings shifted again. Instead of empty space, I saw the familiar orange glow of an afternoon sky, but it was choked by dark storm clouds, with the occasional fork of lightning illuminating everything for a brief second. There was vegetation, and rocks littered the stony ground.

What caught my attention, though, were the futuristic spikes coming out of the ground, and, impaled upon them were…humans?

What the hell? Where the fuck did Tyson send me?

Shots rang out, and I instinctively hit the ground and cradled my head. I heard heavy footfalls approach, and I peeked up to see a life form with a flashlight for a head point a rifle at me. Just as I closed my eyes, another shot sounded and I opened my eyes to see the flashlight head explode. I leapt to my feet, looking for my savior, and was savagely tackled back to the ground and dragged behind a large structure of rocks.

Lifting into a crouch, my eyes to the ground, I saw white armor. Looking higher, the armor gained splashes of pink, until I finally looked into the visor-clad eyes of my hero.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why were you just lying there?" the woman screamed at me. "Those geth would have killed you!"

Geth? Tyson, that fucker…

I knew right away that my hero was one Ashley Williams, and that I was currently on Eden Prime. Fuck that Tyson, I was going to kill him if he showed his face again.

"Well?" Ashley demanded. "What the hell are you doing?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but the familiar sound of geth approaching shut me up. Ashley heard it as well, and quickly darted out of cover, only to return quickly. "We're trapped," she said simply.

I peeked out as well, only to have a bullet strike a foot from my head. I quickly ducked down again.

Fucking Tyson.

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_**-Flashback End-**_

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My name is Allison Stoneford. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to die here.

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**A/N: That is all for this first chapter. Not very Mass Effect-y, I know, but I needed backstory. I'd rather not drop a reader right into the story without some kind of establishment as to what's going on. I'm nice that way. Anywho, I hope y'all liked it. It's kind of lengthy, I know, but bear with me. And thank you for taking the time to read it. Bye bye for now.**

**P.S. Leave a review, lemme know how I'm doing so far? Also, if you find any grammar mistakes or something, pass along your knowledge so that I can prevent such in the future. Thanks!**

**P.P.S. I made a few allusions in this chapter, to a couple books and a mythical being (I think that's it). Whoever can guess them correctly gets...virtual cookies?**

**-DeanneYunFarron**


	2. A Little Shift

**Author's Note: Hello again, my dear readers. I shan't keep you waiting long, so here's the next chapter.**

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**Chapter Two: A Little Shift**

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I really don't want to die here. But honestly, I'm not seeing any alternatives right now. I'm cowering behind a giant rock with _the_ Ashley Williams sporadically taking shots at the many geth that are rapidly approaching. I have no weapons, and I'm completely out of my comfort zone. Oh well, at least I lived a semi-fulfilling life…

I then hear several more gunshots, and they aren't coming from Ashley's assault rifle. I lift my head hopefully. Could it be…?

Yes! I never thought I'd be as happy as I am right now. Commander Shepard and Kaidan Alenko were inbound, taking out the majority of the mass of geth in front of them. Ashley seemed to be filled with renewed determination when they appeared, so she leapt out of the cover and let loose a barrage of well-aimed bullets, dropping the last geth in a shower of sparks.

Since the immediate area now cleared, all weapons were sheathed, and Shepard approached us, Kaidan in tow.

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212. You the one in charge here, ma'am?" Ashley said quickly.

"Are you wounded, Williams?" Shepard asked.

"A few scrapes and burns," Ashley replied. "Nothing serious. The others…weren't so lucky." She started pace, breathing heavily as the adrenaline began leaving her system. "Oh man…we were patrolling the perimeter when the attack hit. We tried to get off a distress call, but they cut off our communications. I've been fighting for my life ever since."

"Any idea what kind of enemy we're facing?" Shepard asked. Aw, damn. I've played through the Mass Effect games multiple times, so I know the dialogue rather well. This is gonna get real tedious, real soon.

"I think they're geth," Ashley answered.

"The geth haven't been seen outside the Veil in nearly 200 years," Kaidan piped up. "Why are they here now?"

"They're probably here for the beacon," I stupidly blurted out.

That got everyone's attention. "Who is this?" Shepard asked.

Ashley shrugged. "I don't know. She was just in the middle of a fire zone when I found her."

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. But hey, thanks for saving my ass. Much appreciated."

My feeble attempt at humor was rewarded with a small smile. "You're welcome."

"So, who are you, exactly?" Shepard tried again.

"Oh, where are my manners? Allison Stoneford, at your service." I really hoped they wouldn't ask about how I got here. Maybe I could play an amnesia card of some sort?

"Okay, Allison. Would you mind telling me what you were doing here on Eden Prime?" Shepard was all business. She still hadn't removed her helmet, so I had no idea what her face looked like. I wonder…

Thinking on the spot, I simply crossed my arms. "Why don't you tell me who all of you are first?"

Shepard paused. For a moment, I thought bad things were going to happen, namely to me, but to my surprise, and relief, she nodded. "Yeah, I suppose we owe you that." Reaching up, she popped off her helmet.

Well, shit.

I was looking into the blue eyes of Samantha Shepard. A Shepard that I had poured my heart and soul into to make her look as much like me as I could. Unfortunately, my shade of hair was smack dab between the darkest blonde and the lightest brown and my own blue eyes were icier than hers; she clearly didn't resemble me that much, but I had done my best with what I was given.

She held her helmet in the crook of her left arm and held her right out. "Commander Samantha Shepard, of the Alliance."

I shook it amicably. "Nice to meet you, Commander Shepard."

Kaidan also removed his helmet. "Lieutenant Commander Kaidan Alenko." I shook his hand as well.

Ashley just nodded at me. "I already introduced myself. No need to do it twice."

I nodded in return. "That makes sense."

Shepard and Kaidan both replaced their helmets. "Do you know the location of the beacon, Williams?" Shepard asked.

Ashley nodded. "It's at the dig site, which is just over that ridge." She pointed to indicate which one.

"Think you could lead us there?"

She nodded again. "Ready to go when you are."

Shepard then glanced at me. I sighed inwardly. Well, shit. I know the Shepard that I created was pretty much the ultimate Paragon, but even she wouldn't want to drag me along as dead weight. I needed to make my case, somehow.

I saw her open her mouth, and I held up my hands, effectively cutting her off. "Look, I know what you're probably thinking. I'm the dumbass who was cowering in the middle of a geth-infested warzone. I get it. I may seem like a weakling. But, I can assure you I'm far from that."

Shepard smiled. "Oh? How so?"

"Well, I'm not awful with a gun." Okay, so my uncle took me hunting a couple times, since he lived in Illinois. And my mother and I would go the shooting range, and I was always informed that I had great accuracy. And I play a lot of first-person shooters. Not the most impressive resume, I know, but it's all I've got. "And I'm a black belt in karate." This wasn't a total lie. I was a few months away from gaining the black belt, so I practically had it already.

"Karate? Kind of an old practice, isn't it?" Kaidan asked.

I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. My parents were big on…older things."

"Where are you from?" Shepard asked this time, not missing a beat.

"California. Southern California, to be exact."

She nodded absently. "Nice place, from what I was told." She lapsed into silence. I presume she was doing some serious thinking about whether or not to let me tag along. The way I saw it, it was either that, or leave me here in the middle of nowhere.

Making up her mind, she pulled out her pistol and handed it to me. "Think you can handle this?"

I took the Kessler and tested its weight. Not bad. I knew for a fact that this pistol was a piece of shit compared to the stuff you could get as the game progressed, but it would do for now. Felt sort of like the Sig P226's we always rented at the range.

I gave it a few practice shots. The recoil was nothing I couldn't handle, and the accuracy could have been a lot worse, I guess. Since there were no thermal clips, yet, reloading shouldn't be a problem either. I nodded at Shepard. "It'll do."

She smirked at my response, than pulled out her assault rifle. "Let's move out."

I suddenly realized that I don't really have anywhere to stow her pistol. Looking down, I see that I'm still wearing my slate-gray jeans and combat boots. My winter jacket has been replaced with some futuristic-y looking jacket, and I'm also wearing some kind of device on my back because I can feel its weight. I crane my neck to look at it. It's pulsing blue, so I'm going to go ahead and guess that it's some kind of shield generator. Seeing as I'm in the Mass Effect universe, it's a legitimate guess.

Well, at least that asshole Tyson was nice enough to provide me with the means to not die (again) the moment I get shot for the first time. I didn't see any holsters for it…wait, didn't the weapons in Mass Effect get pulled right off of Shepard's back? That meant that there must have been a magnetic pull of some kind, keeping the guns in place.

I didn't have anything of the sort (damn that Tyson) but I suppose I could just hold the pistol for now, at least until I got a real set of armor. It wasn't heavy or anything and I definitely needed a weapon. There was no arguing that point. I let the hand that was holding the pistol drop to my side, and I nodded to Shepard to let her know I was ready.

She and Kaidan took the lead, while Ashley surprisingly hung back to talk to me. "So, what were you really doing here?"

I knew this was going to come up eventually, so I relayed the story I just came up with. "One of my cousins moved here not too long ago. I was visiting him when all this went down."

"Really? Why'd he move here?"

I shrugged. "Don't know. I guess he was tired of Earth, wanted to experience something outside of the bubble we'd lived in for 2000 years. Metaphorically, not literally. And I don't blame him, to be honest."

"Did you want to move away? From Earth?"

I shook my head. "Not necessarily, no. Just away from all the bullshit that filled my house. That's why I went to Washington to go to university."

"Washington? Why didn't you go to Oxford, or somewhere big?"

"I didn't want to go to a big school, where you're just another number in the books. I wanted a school that was relatively small, where the professors actually gave two shits about whether you succeeded or not, and had the time to afford to do so."

"Huh. I see where you're coming from."

From up ahead, I saw Shepard duck behind cover. "Contact!" she cried.

I immediately sprinted to the nearest rock big enough to fully hide me from the oncoming geth. I pulled out Shepard's pistol and took a deep breath, trying to ready myself for what I knew came next.

I ducked out of cover and aimed down my sights, training the pistol on the flashlight head nearest me. I went to pull the trigger, but then the head turned toward me and I thought I could see…fear? I began to lower the pistol semiconsciously, no longer desiring to end the geth's life. I mean, surely a diplomatic solution could be reached?

Then, the geth raised its weapon and fired at me. Luckily, I was still partially in cover, and I was quick enough in ducking back down that the bullet simply grazed my shields. I suppose I should thank Tyson for that, but I won't.

I peeked out again, watching as the same geth was taken down by a well-placed shot, straight into the center of its glowing appendage.

I noticed we'd arrived at the structure I knew to be the dig site, but that was furthest from my mind at this point. What the hell was wrong with me? Since when can a light bulb show emotion? Since when did I try to rationalize with something so ridiculous?

I lightly smacked my head a couple times, mentally reprimanding myself as I trailed a ways behind the others.

"This is the dig site," Ashley was saying when I came within earshot. "The beacon was right here. It must have been moved."

"By who? Our side, or the geth?" Kaidan asked.

Ashley shrugged. "I guess we'll find out when we reach the research camp."

Shepard looked around slowly. "Think anyone made it out alive?"

Ashley shrugged again. "If they were lucky. Maybe they're hiding out in the camp. Go up these ramps, and it's at the top."

Shepard nodded, than turned to me. "Allison, what happened back there?"

I was busy in my own mind, so instead of answering with some intellectual response, all that came out was, "Huh?"

"You had the perfect shot lined up back there. Why didn't you take it? I thought you've gone hunting before?"

Dammit, she was onto me. Time to come clean, sort of. "Well, yeah," I started. "But I've never actually killed anything." The last part trailed off into a whisper. I nervously started toying with my side braid, waiting for the inevitable.

She frowned. "Never killed anything?"

I winced. Her tone was far from anything jovial. "I know, I know. You're probably already starting to regret bringing me along. I get it, okay?" I looked at the pistol in my hand. It was suddenly a lot heavier. I held it out to her. "You should probably take this back."

"What do you mean?" She actually looked confused. Don't tell me she wasn't going to…

"You're not going to leave me behind?" My tone came out more pleading then I wanted it to.

She chuckled. "Why would I do that? I wish you'd told me the whole truth, sure, but I'm not going to leave you in this hellhole."

I smiled slightly. "Thanks. I won't let it happen again." Remembering what she said about lying, I hastily corrected myself. "I mean, I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again."

She barked out a laugh and clapped me on the shoulder. "We'll toughen you up."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, Commander."

"Anytime." All joking aside, she put a hand to her ear and listened intently. I'll assume that was Nihlus telling her something about some spaceport that he'd be waiting at. It's kind of sad knowing that he dies pretty damn soon. I actually kind of liked him.

"Alright, guys, let's keep moving." She set off at a brisk pace, us in her wake.

The uphill climb was rather short, and not a minute later I could see the black smoke billowing up from what I knew to be the remains of the research camp.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire," I said.

The others looked up as well. We reached the top soon after and watched the unchecked fires rage.

"Looks like they hit the camp pretty hard," Ashley commented.

"Good place for an ambush," Kaidan added. "Keep your guard up."

I noted the Dragon's Teeth that were sticking up all over the place. Great, that meant we'd have to fight those damn Husks. I really hated those things. In a sickeningly satisfying personal victory (at least in my mind), when playing, I would shoot them right in the middle with a powerful pistol and watch them split into two halves of gooey goodness while I fist-pumped gloriously. Granted, this was in Mass Effect 2, where I had heavy pistols, so maybe I shouldn't fuck around and just shoot them straight in the head.

Right on cue, the Dragon's Teeth started to lower, interrupting my internal monologue.

"Oh, God! They're still alive!" Kaidan exclaimed.

Ashley followed. "What did the geth _do_ to them?"

I brought the pistol up, supporting it with two hands. It may seem amateur, since a lot of the 'cool kids' like to go all one-handed with them, but I really can't afford to make any mistakes. I'd rather not find out if I can actually die while I'm here. Which I don't doubt.

The other three pulled out their weapons and began blasting away. Being this close to Shepard, I was slightly in awe. This woman really did have some amazing precision and accuracy. She was a force to be reckoned with, alright. Not that Kaidan and Ashley were lacking in the amazement department. Shepard was simply in a league of her own.

One Husk began shambling its way toward me, and I leaned out of cover to line up a shot. Shepard's words rang in my ears. But this…_thing_…was human not too long ago, right? I mean, who am I to play God and decide what lives and what doesn't?

The sound of the Husk's head exploding pulled me from the expanse of my mind. A small amount of the goo landed on me, and I stared at it for longer than I should have.

"What were those things?" Kaidan asked.

I looked up. Holy shit, I blinked and all the bad guys were killed! Damn me and my moral struggles!

Shepard approached me. "Allison…"

I looked away. "Don't. I already know. Second fuck up in less than ten minutes. Must be a new record."

She sighed and patted me on the shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up too much. You'll get the hang of it."

I scoffed. "I think your confidence in me is a little misplaced, Commander."

She frowned. "It's not wrong to believe things will get better."

I didn't respond. She eventually just shook her head and kept walking, toward the edge of the camp. Kaidan and Ashley followed close behind, and I lagged in the rear.

What the hell is wrong with me? I know that virtually everyone can't simply go around killing things without a second thought, but I would assume that my primal survival instinct would kick in and at least let me kill to live? All these moral issues I was having right now wasn't like me. I needed to get my shit together. I highly doubt Shepard was going to allow me to stay on the Normandy if I didn't prove myself somehow.

We came to a certain pile of rocks (cue saddening cutscene) and a bang sounded in the distance. Ah, Nihlus. You were a pretty cool dude.

Turning the corner, we caught our first glimpse of the infamous Sovereign.

"What is that, off in the distance?" Kaidan asked.

I have to admit, Sovereign was a total dick (all the Reapers were) but it was surely an impressive sight. It was pulsing with a powerful red energy, and pink forks of lightning were dancing across its surface.

"It's a ship. Look at the size of it!" Ashley exclaimed.

Only partially correct, Ms. Williams. It's actually a Reaper. Sadly, I can't reveal that too early. There are rules to messing with the space-time continuum. Or something like that.

Sovereign began taking off into the blood-red sky, and while the others watched it go, I began surveying the camp. I was almost sure there were geth to be fought…aha! I caught a flash of movement on a set of steps.

"Hey, guys?" I pointed toward it. "We've got company."

The others pulled out their weapons, as did I. I took a deep breath. Time to redeem yourself, Allison.

There were some rocks around where we were making our descent, so I picked one and hid behind it. I could hear the telltale groaning of a Husk approaching. Steeling myself, I popped out of cover and took aim at its head.

_Remember, Alli, these things are no longer human. And right now, they want to kill you. Or capture you and turn you into one of them. Which is essentially killing you, anyway._

My inner mind was right. In the split second it took to squeeze the trigger, I had another internal debate. Should I close my eyes? Do I really want to see what I'm about to do?

No. I don't want to see it. But, I have to.

Keeping my eyes trained on the Husk, I watch, almost in slow motion, as my bullet passes right through its head. One burst of black and blue fluid later, and it's on the ground, motionless.

I let the pistol dangle at my side as I stare at the corpse. Hell, it's not a pretty sight.

But it needed to be done.

Pushing away everything else in my mind, I focus only on the task at hand. Raising the pistol again, I move forward from the cover I was at to a small container a few yards ahead. I crouch down, out of sight of oncoming enemies, and peek around the corner.

I can see that Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley have taken out most of the Geth Troopers. Only one remains, and it's close to my position. Should I try the pistol again? With the shields it most likely has, it'll take a few rounds to bring it down, even if they're all headshots.

Maybe a close combat approach would be more effective? I did have a few years of karate under my belt, and close combat was something I was pretty comfortable with.

Making up my mind, I sprinted out of cover and headed straight for the Geth Trooper. It heard my heavy footfalls and turned toward me, weapon at the ready, but I was too fast for it. I quickly shoved its rifle to the side with a single thrust of my arm, and followed with an uppercut to its head. It jerked back, and I swept out a foot, sending it crashing into the ground. Lifting my boot, I stomped on its flashy appendage, and it let out a pathetic dying whine. When I removed my boot, all that remained were some wires and a few sparks.

The others joined me as I continued to look at the damage I'd done with my boot. "Impressive," Ashley said.

I shrugged. "Nothing special."

She sort of frowned at my response, but brushed it off and followed Shepard as she led the way up the set of steps where I'd first spotted the geth. I looked down again at the remnants of the Trooper. Even though I needed to kill it in order to survive, it was still nothing to celebrate. Ah, well. There would be time for reflection later.

I caught up to the others right as they reached the top. I could see Nihlus lying on the ground, with a small pool of blood puddled around him. Damn Saren.

"Commander…it's Nihlus," Kaidan said as we got closer. He kneeled down next to the body.

"A turian? You know him?" Ashley asked Shepard incredulously.

I struggled not to roll my eyes. Here we go.

Shepard nodded, not taking her eyes off the corpse. Kaidan stood up and addressed Ashley. "He's a Spectre. He was with us on the Nor-."

A sudden clatter made the others draw their weapons. I didn't raise the pistol, because I knew it was just Powell, the guy who survived only because he was napping.

"Something's moving, over behind those crates!" Ashley cried.

Powell came into sight, holding his hands up in surrender. "Don't shoot! I'm one of you, I'm human!"

Shepard visibly relaxed, but her hold on her gun remained firm. "What were you doing behind those crates?"

"I-I'm sorry. I was hiding. From those creatures." At his words, the other's lowered their guns. "My name's Powell. I saw what happened to that turian. The other one shot him."

"You're saying Nihlus was murdered by another turian?" Shepard sounded slightly skeptical.

"The other one got here first. He was waiting when your friend showed up. He called him Saren. I think they knew each other," Powell explained. "Your friend seemed to relax. He let his guard down…and Saren killed him. Shot him right in the back. I'm lucky he didn't see me behind the crates."

Shepard nodded. "Okay. Then what happened? Where did Saren go?"

Powell pointed to the train a little ways from us. "He hopped on the cargo train and rode it to the other platform. I think he was headed for the beacon. I knew that beacon was trouble. Everything's gone to hell since we found it. First that mother ship, now the attack. They killed everyone. Everyone! I'd be dead too if I hadn't been behind the crates."

"We need to get to the beacon before it's too late!" Shepard stated.

Wait. Weren't they going to ask why Powell was behind the crates? I always did. Maybe I should just…

"Hold it," I started. "Just what were you doing behind those crates? How come no one else survived?"

Powell looked like a deer caught in headlights. Heh. Gotcha.

"The others never stood a chance. I…I…I was already behind the crates when the attack started," he said slowly.

"Wait a minute. You were hiding behind the crates _before_ the attack?" Kaidan asked.

"Sometimes…I, uh, I need a nap to get through my shift. I sneak off behind the crates to grab forty winks where the supervisor can't find me," he finally admitted.

"You survived because you were _lazy_?" Ashley looked like she was ready to punch his lights out.

You know, I could sympathize with Powell. Work can be pretty tough sometimes. Gotta catch sleep where you can.

"How was I supposed to know this was going to happen?" he replied hotly.

Ashley just scoffed. "Ridiculous."

I don't really know why I jumped to his defense, but I did. "Hey, take it easy, Williams. Just because he was lazy doesn't mean he needed to die with the others."

She rounded on me, fire in her eyes. Well, shit. "Then maybe you'd like to explain to me how he deserves to live while all the others died, simply because he was too lazy. How about that, _Stoneford_?"

I glared at her. How dare she spit out my last name like it's an insult!

"Wait." I turned back to Powell. "Did she just say Stoneford?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's my last name."

"Then that means you must be Allison!"

I wouldn't be surprised if my jaw was hanging open right now. "How the hell do you know who I am?"

"Your cousin, Jonathon. He was my closest friend. Yeah, he talked about you all the time."

What the fuck? I totally made that up just to get Ashley off my back. There's no way in hell my cousin was actually here. Better play it safe, though. "He did, huh?"

Powell stuck out a hand. I slowly reached out to shake it. "I'm sorry we weren't able to officially meet. He told me you were coming to visit. If I remember right, you only arrived yesterday, so there was no time before all this happened?"

My mind was still reeling. "So, where is he?" Wow, what a stupid question. I mentally face palmed.

Powell started to wring his hands. "I, uh…he was with the others. When the…when the attack hit. It was actually his day off, but he came by to visit anyway. He usually did."

"But, that would mean…" Wait, why was I getting sad? This wasn't real, I made it all up!

Powell nodded. "I'm so sorry. I found his body, and I, uh, I placed it behind the crates with me. I was going to give him a proper burial when those things left." He beckoned to me. "Did you…did you want to see him? Say goodbye?"

Huh. I never thought Powell's character would have this much depth to him. There was no indication of it in the game. Then again, I didn't actually think a story that I made up would become reality.

I nodded. "Yeah. I would like that."

I could hear the other three follow me quietly as I let Powell lead me back behind his crates, and beyond. Powell weaved through the few remaining crates and finally came to a particularly large one. Going behind it, he gently pulled a body back into our field of vision.

My breath hitched, in spite of myself. I couldn't believe my eyes.

There, on the ground in front of me, lay my cousin. Everything about him was the same. The black hair, styled to spike up only in the front, the hazel eyes that saw no longer, his favorite pair of black and white Chucks, even his treasured shirt with the Puerto Rican flag on it that was a gift from his cousin, my older brother.

No. It couldn't be. I knew my younger cousin was currently home in southern Cali, living with his girlfriend of three years in their shared apartment. He was balancing a part-time job along with his studies. He wanted to be an electrical engineer.

But, here he was in front of me. Two bullet holes to the chest were caked with dried blood, forever ruining that damn T-shirt that he wore all the time. I always told him his girlfriend would dump his ass from the smell alone, he wore it so much.

"I...how…?" I was completely speechless. This wasn't supposed to happen. None of it was.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning, I discovered Ashley looking sadly at me. Weird. I wasn't expecting that.

I smiled softly at her. I turned back to Jonathon and knelt down. Looking into his eyes, I saw no answers. Nothing as to why he was here and not back where he was supposed to be. I reached up and slowly slid his eyelids closed. "Goodbye, Johnny." I looked up at Powell. "Thank you for keeping his body safe."

Powell nodded solemnly. "Of course. He was like a brother to me."

I stood up. I could feel tears welling up, and despite my efforts, a few trailed down my cheeks.

This couldn't be real. This guy was an imposter, right? I was crying over a look-alike. Wasn't I?

There could only be one explanation. That fuck, Tyson. He must have heard what I told Ashley and decided to make it seem as if my cousin had actually been here. He created a perfect replica of him and everything. He did all of it just to fuck with my emotional state.

I swear, that little bastard was going to pay. Somehow.

I turned back to Shepard, wiping my eyes. "We should get on that train. We need to stop Saren."

She looked like she was ready to say something, but I stopped her. "Please don't. I just…I need some time to grieve. But, thank you." I don't know if I necessarily needed to grieve. The tears were brought about because he looked so much like my cousin. I just didn't feel like talking at this moment.

She looked like she wanted to argue. Such a Paragon, she was. She nodded anyway. "Alright. Let's get moving."

"I'm going to go. I can't be around this anymore. And I need to see to Johnny's body." Powell looked at me. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't save him. And I'm sorry that I only survived because I was lazy." I feel that the last bit was directed at Ashley.

I shook my head. "Don't apologize. We all make mistakes. It's what makes us human. Stay safe out there."

He nodded and turned back to the body. I always wondered what happened to him after Eden Prime. Oh, well. No time to worry about that.

Shepard took the lead, and we started for the cargo train. Of course, there were the many Geth Troopers we had to deal with. Shepard even busted out her sniper rifle to take out the ones that were a ways off more easily. I popped off a few shots, even killing a couple, but my heart wasn't really in it. Not that my heart was ever really into killing, but you get what I mean.

Finally, we got to the train controls and activated them. The ride was slow (no surprises there) and spent in complete silence. I don't know what the others were thinking about. I didn't even know what I should be thinking about. I mean, I just saw my younger cousin dead in a universe that shouldn't even be a reality. My mind should be all over the place. But strangely, I had only one thing in my head: confronting that dick, Tyson. I don't know how he did it, but I knew he was at fault.

The train eventually came to a stop where we needed it to, and we got off. There was a demolition charge literally right next to where we got off.

"Demolition charges! The geth must have planted them!" Kaidan said.

"Hurry! We need to find them all and shut them down!" Ashley added.

I wonder if Shepard was really going to be able to shut them off. I mean, in the game, you just pressed a button and waited, making sure to stay close to it while it 'disarmed'. Here, I wonder what she would do.

She knelt down and got to work. I tried to watch, but I couldn't really see with her hunched over it. Anyway, she had it disarmed in like six seconds. It couldn't have been all that exciting.

One down, three to go.

And of course, as we raced around trying to find them, we had the geth shooting at us. We fell into an easy pattern: Shepard would kneel down and do her work, while Kaidan, Ashley and I fended off the geth. It worked rather nicely, and not ten minutes after we'd departed the cargo train, all the charges were disarmed.

We only had one more ramp to descend, and I could see the beacon close by. This should be fun. There were only a few more geth in the immediate area, and Shepard took care off most of them. The rest were picked off by Kaidan and Ashley. I was only able to take out one, but hey, I had to make do with a pistol, while they had their fancy assault rifles.

All too soon, every last geth was dead. The only thing that remained was dealing with the beacon. Shepard stayed back to radio the Normandy, while Kaidan, Ashley and I went to investigate.

The beacon was giving off its strange green aura. I'll admit, in the game, it was already pretty cool, but up close and in real life, it was freaking awesome.

"This is amazing! Actual working Prothean technology. Unbelievable!" Kaidan exclaimed.

"It wasn't doing anything like that when they dug it up," Ashley noted. "Something must have activated it."

Kaidan and I went back to stand by Shepard, who was still in contact with the Normandy. Hold the phone…Kaidan? Wasn't Kaidan supposed to be the one who stayed back when Shepard was female?

I whipped around toward the beacon and saw Ashley get steadily closer to it as she looked it over. This wasn't how it was supposed to be happening. What was going on?

I saw the beacon pulse and it began pulling Ashley in. Turning around, Shepard was still looking the other way and Kaidan was idly looking around. In fact, looking everywhere but in the beacon's direction. What the fuck?

Aw, hell. There was no way Shepard was going to get to her in time. Man, I know I was going to regret this.

I ran toward her and grabbed her around the waist. Mustering my strength, I was able to fling her backward, away from the beacon.

I tried to follow, but I could barely move anymore. Damn, that beacon's pull was strong.

It pulled me into the air, and I knew what was coming. Fuck!

Everything was blank for a moment. Then…there were so many images! The synthetics on a blood-filled rampage, organics dying all around, the same orange glow that provided the backdrop for all that I saw. I couldn't believe it, but I was actually in pain. Like real, physical pain. I wasn't just seeing this with my eyes, it was like every image was being branded into my nervous system. Holy shit, this was intense! And the sounds! The screaming and yelling, it was so loud! Finally, with one last shriek, the vision came to an end.

_This wasn't how it was supposed to happen, _is the last thing I think before I succumb to the darkness.

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**A/N: Hey yo. I hope you guys liked this one too. And a special thanks to my five reviewers. It warms my heart to know that y'all took the time to review. And another special thanks to those that followed/favorite this. Much appreciated. I hope to see you next time too! Deuces!**

**-DeanneYunFarron**


	3. The First Glimpse

**Author's Note: Haiyo! How's errybody doin'? Fantastic! Okay, well, I'll let y'all get back to it. Hope youse enjoy this next one.**

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**Chapter Three: The First Glimpse**

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"_Hey. Wake up."_

_I groaned loudly. "Urgh…my head…"_

"_Stop bitching. It could be a lot worse, you know."_

_That voice…Tyson!_

"_Screw you, you asshole," I snarled._

_He chuckled darkly. "Why the hostility, Allison? I thought we were friends. I mean, you were so nice to me before. What happened to make you ever so angry?"_

_I ground my teeth at the feigned innocence in his voice. "Don't play coy, you dick. You know exactly why I'm pissed at you."_

"_Pray tell."_

_I finally forced my eyelids open. The sight that greeted me was the same from when he'd originally sent me into the Mass Effect universe: empty space. I looked around slowly. He was hard to see, since he was wearing all black, but I was eventually able to make out his silhouette. "You want me to roll out the list? First off, you pretend to be some nice kid who tries to befriend me. I really dislike being lied to. Second, you send me into a universe that's not actually supposed to exist. Third, you drop me right into the middle of a war zone, where I could have easily been killed. And finally, you try to fuck with my head by creating some kind of doppelganger of my cousin that dies."_

_He smiles. "Who says it was a doppelganger?"_

_I frown. "Stop trying to mess with me, Tyson. I know for a fact that Johnny is back in my time, in a universe that actually does exist, and very much alive."_

_He shrugs. "I'm just saying, if I was able to bring you into a so-called fake universe, what makes you think I couldn't do the same to your precious cousin?"_

_I thought for a moment. "Well, the only reason you and I interacted was because I died. As such, you were able to transport me to the Mass Effect universe, seeing as you're the Grim Reaper, or whatever. My cousin hasn't died."_

"_And how do you know he hasn't?"_

_I narrowed my eyes; I wasn't able to tell with this guy. He had such a good poker face. "That's true, I don't know for sure. But, I'm sticking to the belief that he's not, and you're just trying to fuck with me."_

"_If you say so." He sits down with his legs crossed. Or, floats, I suppose. Seeing as we're in empty space and all._

_I cross my arms. "Why?"_

_He looks at me with a bored expression. "Why what?"_

"_Why are you doing this?"_

_He shrugs. "Boredom, I guess."_

_I shake my head. "Really? That's the best you've got? You're doing all this because you're __**bored**__?"_

_He nods. "Yeah, pretty much."_

"_I don't buy it."_

"_And why's that?"_

"_Because everything happens for a reason, right? Decisions aren't made without some kind of ulterior motive in mind. Something as big as this does not just happen out of sheer boredom."_

"_Or maybe it really did happen out of boredom. Maybe I'm not as complex and shit as you're making me out to be."_

_He sounded almost…sad? Why would he be sad?_

_I tried to reason with him. "Tyson…whatever the real reason that you're doing this, you don't have to."_

_He shook his head. "No, I do. I don't have a choice."_

_I approached him. Cautiously, I placed a hand on his shoulder, making him look into my eyes. "There's always a choice, Tyson. Whatever, whoever, is supposedly forcing you to do this, you're stronger than that. You have the option to say no."_

_Why the hell was I being so nice to him? This little asshole was the reason I was stuck._

_And yet…I did feel sorry for him. I could empathize. I knew firsthand what it feels like to think there's no way out. To think that you have to do something, to feel forced to do it._

_He smiled softly. "Nice try, Allison." He waved his hand, and another vortex appeared. "Go on. It's time for you to head back. They're waiting on you."_

"_But…"_

_He shook his head. "Go. You need to leave. Now." He gave me a slight push, much softer than the first time._

_I gave him one last look before walking through._

"…_Thank you, Allison," Tyson whispered to the lonely stars._

"Doctor? Doctor Chakwas? I think she's waking up!"

Was that…Shepard's voice? My eyelids fluttered open softly. My head felt like someone had knocked me around with a mallet. I carefully lifted my upper body off the bed I was laying on.

"You had us worried there, Ms. Stoneford. How are you feeling?" Ah, the soothing and beautiful British accent of Carolyn Seymour.

I looked up and found Dr. Chakwas, Ashley and Shepard looking at me. I tried to muster a smile, but failed miserably. "My head hurts. Other than that, I'm alright, I think. If I may ask, how long was I unconscious?"

"About fifteen hours," Dr. Chakwas answered. "Something happened down there with the beacon, I think."

"That's…a long time," I lamely replied.

"It was my fault," Ashley said. "I must have triggered some kind of security field when I approached it. You had to push me out of the way." Her tone was apologetic.

I shrugged. "No worries. I'm fine now, for better or for worse."

She smiled softly at my response. Hmm…

"It was my fault, too," Shepard started. "I should have been closer."

I looked at her next. "Relax, Commander. I'm not dead, so I'd say things turned out okay. So, a security field was triggered." I shrugged. "Could have been worse."

"Actually, we don't even know if that's what set if off," Dr. Chakwas responded. "Unfortunately, we'll never get the chance to find out."

"The beacon exploded," Ashley explained. "A system overload, maybe. The blast knocked you flat. The three of us carried you back here to the ship."

I grinned at her. "Well, I'll be damned. That's the second time you've saved my ass. Much appreciated, Williams. And you too, Commander."

Both women smiled in response.

"Physically, you're fine," Chakwas said. "Well, now, anyway. I took the liberty of performing the simple procedure to rid you of your asthma, as well as your hypoglycemia. Additionally, I noticed that one of the sesamoid bones in your left foot was fractured into three. It appears that it had mostly healed some time ago, yet remained fractured. So, I fixed that up for you as well. I'm surprised it wasn't taken care of already. Children receive these procedures within a year or two of their birth."

Ah, crap. "Uh, well, my parents were…a little opposed to the idea of modern medicine. They thought that living with such…setbacks…was good for character." How's that for pulling it out of my ass?

She nodded. "I don't agree with it, per se, but I can surely understand. As I said, your physical state is without complications. But, I did detect some unusual brain activity, abnormal beta waves."

I swung my legs off the bed and rubbed my temples, trying to will the pain away. It worked enough that I was able to focus my full attention on Chakwas. "I also noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement, signs typically associated with intense dreaming."

I nodded thoughtfully. "I was dreaming. At least, I think I was. I saw death. Destruction. None of it is really clear at the moment." And it would remain that way, at least for a while. Whoo.

"Hmm. I better add this to my report. It may-Oh, Captain Anderson. How may I help you?"

I looked up to see the one of the most awesome characters in the franchise (at least in my opinion) walk into the room. "Just checking in on our guest. How is she, Doctor?" And his voice! Oh man, his voice. Like a younger James Earl Jones, mixed with a little Morgan Freeman, this man.

"All the readings look normal. I'd say Allison's going to be just fine."

Well, at least Tyson didn't make it so that something wasn't going to be fine. That's good news, of a sort.

"Glad to hear it." He turned to Shepard. "Shepard, I need to speak with you and Allison-in private."

Both Chakwas and Ashley got the message. "Aye, aye, Captain. I'll be in the mess if you need me." She glanced my way as she said that last part. She saluted, and both she and the doctor walked out of the med bay.

Anderson looked at me. "Sounds like that beacon hit you pretty hard, Ms. Stoneford. Are you sure you're alright?"

I nodded. "I'm okay, sir. Just a little headache, that's all."

"Good." He pulled out a datapad. "I'd just like to go over your background with you, make sure we've got everything right." He looked down at it. "Says here that you were adopted at five weeks old, and you've been living in California ever since. Your cousin moved to Eden Prime, and you paid him a visit on break from college at the time of the attack."

I nodded slowly. How in the hell did they get this information on me?

"Your date of birth is December 30th, 2161. You were attending university in Washington. Both of your parents were killed by way of street gang violence in 2175."

The shock must have shown on my face, because Shepard placed a consoling hand on my shoulder. "It must have been tough to lose your parents at 14."

I nodded dumbly. "Yeah, it…it was really hard." What the hell?

Anderson continued. "You were cared for by your older brother until you left for college. He died in 2181, also a victim of gang violence."

Well, that certainly takes care of my family. Everyone's dead.

Anderson peered down at the chart. "Just to be sure, what were you majoring in?"

"I was majoring in biology, with a minor in English." He nodded, satisfied.

"According to our files, you have no record of combat, period. You are, however, thoroughly trained in martial arts, and your physical prowess is higher than average."

At least I've got something going for me. "Does all of this sound right to you?"

I nodded. Shepard smiled confidently at Anderson. "See? I told you she could be trusted."

Shepard…trusted me? So soon?

Anderson nodded. "Alright, alright. To be clear, I never questioned your judgment, Shepard. Now, back to the reason I asked to see you both in private." He clasped his hands behind his back. "I'm not going to lie. Things look bad. Nihlus is dead. The beacon was destroyed and geth are invading. The Council is going to want answers."

"We didn't do anything wrong, Captain. Hopefully, the Council can see that," Shepard replied.

"I'll stand behind you and your report, Shepard. You're a damned hero in my books." Anderson turned away. "That's not why I'm here. It's Saren, that other turian."

I sort of tuned out. I already knew the information that Anderson was filling the commander in on. My thoughts drifted elsewhere.

I'm surprised that there are actually files on me. Tyson must have seen to that. And all of it was essentially true. Besides the whole parents and brother being dead thing, and the years of when everything took place. I'm also a year older than I should be.

And Tyson. What the heck was all that about not having a choice in what he was doing? Did he have others above him? Others that were telling him what to do? But who the hell does the Grim Reaper answer to? Satan? God? Or some other powerful being?

"Allison?" Shepard's voice pulled me out of my head.

"Huh?"

"Did you see anything that could tell us what exactly Saren was after?" Anderson asked.

Oh, right. I was the one who got the vision. "I had a vision of some sort. None of it really made sense. I saw synthetics killing organics. Maybe it was geth. Maybe it wasn't. I'm not sure." I didn't like playing dumb, but for the sake of canon, I would have to.

"We need to report this to the council," Anderson said.

"What exactly can we tell them?" Shepard argued. "That Allison had a bad dream?"

"We don't know what information was stored in that beacon. Lost Prothean technology? Blueprints for some ancient weapon of mass destruction? Whatever it was, Saren took it." Anderson frowned, than continued. "But I know Saren. I know his reputation, his politics. He believes humans are a blight on the galaxy. This attack was an act of war!" Anderson started to pace. "He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy!"

I'd forgotten how pronounced the captain's hatred of Saren was.

"I'll find some way to take him down," Shepard promised.

Anderson shook his head. "It's not that easy. Saren's a Spectre. He can go anywhere, do almost anything. That's why we need the Council on our side."

I decided to pipe up. "But if this Saren's as well-connected as you make him sound, what makes you think the Council will take our word over his?"

"We prove Saren's gone rogue and the Council will revoke his Spectre status," Shepard answered.

Anderson nodded. "I'll contact the ambassador and see if he can get us an audience with the Council. He'll want to see us as soon as we reach the Citadel. We should be getting close. Head up to the bridge and tell Joker to bring us in to dock."

I knew those were Anderson's parting lines, so I quickly spoke up again. "Um, I hate to intrude and everything, but what will happen to me?"

Anderson looked to Shepard. "Well, Commander. You fought with her. So, I'll let you decide."

Fuck. I didn't do so hot in the way of fighting and such. I might as well kiss my chance goodbye.

Shepard smiled. "She's rough around the edges, that's for sure. However, she's definitely useful in combat situations. Also, I get the feeling that the vision she had will become necessary down the line."

I would have fist-pumped, but that would have made everything really awkward, really quickly. So, I settled for, "Are you sure, Commander?"

She nodded. "I'm sure. Captain, I would like Allison to stay on the Normandy."

He rubbed his chin. "Well, she's not an Alliance soldier. I don't know how I'd spin this."

"What if we put her on the Alliance's payroll? Like a freelancer?"

That sounded like a mercenary to me, but I'll keep my mouth shut. This time.

Anderson nodded. "Sounds good. I'll make the necessary calls." He stuck out a hand, and I shook it. "Glad to have you with us, Ms. Stoneford."

I smiled. "The pleasure is all mine, sir." He nodded again at both of us and left the med bay.

I turned to Shepard. "I appreciate what you did, Commander, but are you sure you want me on board?"

She grinned. "You complaining, Allison? I would have thought you'd be ecstatic to be staying, especially with everything that's happened…" She stopped short, suddenly looking guilty. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up…"

She must have been referring to Johnny. I nodded. "It's alright, Commander. And thank you. For what you said."

She nodded. "I wasn't lying. With a little bit of training, you'll be a kick-ass soldier. And your knowledge of biology could be useful. Maybe Dr. Chakwas will let you help out her in the med bay sometimes." She gave me a once-over. "Since we're stopping at the Citadel, you may want to think about getting some armor and weapons." She went to leave, but stopped and turned around. "Oh, and since you don't actually serve under me, call me either Shepard or Samantha."

I grinned at her. "As you wish…Commander."

She rolled her eyes and left. I continued to sit there for a couple minutes. I couldn't believe this. Now that Eden Prime was over and done with, the adrenaline was ebbing away. I was actually on the Normandy, with everyone else. And I had the vision, instead of Shepard.

Wait…didn't that mean I get the Cipher? And doesn't Liara join her mind with the recipient of the vision? Ah, fuck. I was definitely not looking forward to that.

I figured I should head out, maybe introduce myself to everyone? I hopped off the bed and walked to the door. With a hiss, it opened and I walked through. I didn't know where exactly I wanted to start, so I just started walking, but was halted midstride.

"Allison?" It was Ashley. Eh, may as well start with her.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm glad you're okay. I don't know what I would've done if you'd died because of me," she said, almost shyly.

"A little explosion wasn't going to take me out, Williams. Have a little faith." I faked insult. I also sincerely hoped that some other little explosion wouldn't actually take me out.

She just shook her head. "I'm serious. Corporal Jenkins died down there. If he hadn't, I probably wouldn't be here. I just…feel a little guilty."

I shrugged. "I didn't know anything about him." That was a total lie, but she didn't need to know that. "And I don't know much about you. But, from what I saw, I'd say you're pretty kick-ass. And that you deserve to serve onboard the Normandy."

She looked a little surprised at my response. Honestly, she wasn't the only one. "Um, thanks, Allison. That was actually nice of you to say."

I grinned. "I have my moments." She still looked slightly downcast. "Hey, are you doing alright? I could see that things were pretty rough down there."

She shook her head. "Honestly? I'm just so angry about the geth. My entire unit was taken out, and I couldn't do shit to stop it. Not until Shepard showed up. I was practically useless." She stared down at the floor.

Whoa. She sounded like she had some serious survivor's guilt. That was odd, because in the game, she sort of just shrugged it off. Like it was no big deal. I guess, with it being something of a reality now, there's a lot more depth to everything. I wasn't fantastic at the whole cheering people up thing, but with this glaring me in the face, I was sure as hell going to try.

"Hey, you don't need to feel guilty, Ashley." I placed a hand on her shoulder, tentatively, and she looked up. "I'm sure every one of those soldiers would have gladly given their lives a dozen times over again. That's the kind of trust you instilled into them." I don't necessarily know if that's true, but hey, I had to try. Thinking quickly, I remembered she liked poetry. I tried to grasp at something, anything that could be applicable here. "'But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold.'" Probably could have been better, but I tried my best. "Don't allow yourself to live in the past. You need to move forward, make their sacrifices count."

She smiled at me. "Rupert Brooke, huh?"

I nodded. I wonder how many poets she actually knew of. "Him, I liked. I had a lot of uncles who were in the military. So his idealism kind of hit home for me."

"I can understand that. I come from a military background too."

I smirked. "Really? I wouldn't have guessed."

She cocked an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say?"

I shrugged innocently. "I don't know. You've got some serious combat skills, and you like poetry? Interesting combination is all I'm saying."

She punched me in the arm. That actually kind of hurt. "Just because I can drill you between the eyes doesn't mean I can't like the sensitive stuff."

I rubbed the sore spot. "I didn't say you couldn't. All I said was that it was interesting. Take that as you will. Which, judging from the bruise I know is forming, you didn't take to it too kindly."

She chuckled. "You deserved it. But seriously, thank you, Allison. I needed that little kick in the butt."

I grinned. "Anytime, Ashley. You ever need another one, you know who to call." I cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "And what a fine butt it is."

…..

What did I just say? She looked confused for a moment, and then punched me again, harder this time. "Asshole. And call me Ash."

"Maybe I should go before you do actual damage," I teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Goodbye, Allison."

"Later, Ashley."

I quickly walked away before she could throw something at me. I ended up fleeing in the opposite direction of when I started, but Dr. Chakwas was casually leaning against the wall next to the med bay, so I just went up to her.

"What can I do for you, Ms. Stoneford?" she said as I approached.

"I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out, Doc."

She smiled and nodded. "Of course, dear. It is my job to make sure everyone on this ship remains in top shape, and now that includes you."

I grinned sheepishly. "I guess that means you've heard the good news?"

She nodded again. "I'm glad that you've been invited to stay. That way I can continue to keep an eye on you."

"What do you mean?"

"Seeing as how it took all the way until now for you to receive the necessary treatment to rid you of conditions that have long since been eradicated, I can only wonder at what else about you is…different," she said thoughtfully.

Uh…I'm not sure how to feel about that one. "Yeah, my parents sure were odd folk." And that was definitely not a lie.

She smiled. "It's alright. I'm sure, with your upbringing, us folks must seem just as odd to you."

I laughed. "No, not really. When you grow up with my parents, well, it doesn't get much more odd than that."

She chuckled in response. "I can only imagine."

"Well, I'll see you later, Dr. Chakwas. Thank you again."

I strolled away from her, passing Ashley on the way. I grinned widely at her, and she rolled her eyes. I spotted Kaidan in his usual spot, albeit a little to the left.

"Glad to see you're okay, Allison," Kaidan said as I walked up to him.

I leaned against the railing. "Yeah, I'm feeling okay. I've got a little bit of a headache, but it's nothing."

He chuckled. "I sure know headaches."

I played coy. "Oh? How so?"

"I'm a biotic, as I'm sure you've noticed." I nodded. I had seen him put his powers to use on Eden Prime. Impressive, really. "Well, most biotics today use the L3 implants. I'm different. I've got the old L2 implants."

"And…?" Playing stupid was kind of fun sometimes.

"Well, there are complications. Actually, it's quite a long list: insanity, physical pain, mental disabilities, severely weakened immune systems. I got lucky; I only get migraines."

"Only migraines? Sounds unpleasant."

He shrugged. "Compared to some others, I might as well be taking a walk."

I laughed. "If you say so." I pushed up from my reclined position. "Well, anyway. I'll talk to you later, Kaidan."

"Looking forward to it, kid."

I headed toward the stairs; maybe I'll go say hi to Joker or something. Along the way, I ran into Shepard. "Hey, Commander."

She frowned. I noticed. "What?"

She crossed her arms and said nothing. I thought for a moment. "Uh…hey…Samantha?"

She uncrossed her arms and her face broke out into a huge grin. "Better."

I rolled my eyes. "Really? All that drama just for that?"

She shrugged. "If I'm going to help you remember not to call me 'Commander', might as well give it one hundred percent."

I just shook my head. She laughed at me. "So, did you finish introducing yourself to everyone?"

I nodded. "For the most part, yeah. I was actually on my way to say hey to Joker."

"Maybe later. Right now, we're about to pull in to the Citadel. Before we do, I'm going to show you where you'll be staying, so when you finish your purchases, you'll know where to put all of your stuff."

She took me by the arm and started lightly tugging me toward the crew quarters. Oh, well. Joker will have to wait.

The door to the crew quarters slid open and she pushed me inside. "There you go. You'll be bunking with Ashley. I think she already took the top bunk, though."

"I don't care. I always liked the bottom bunk anyway. Less hassle to get in and out."

"Seeing as you don't have any bags or anything, because of what happened…" She stopped short and looked at me quickly.

I smiled. "Relax, Samantha. It's alright. And you're right. Everything I brought with me probably got destroyed. Looks like I'll just have to replace it all on the Citadel."

She nodded. "Well, I think we should have pulled into dock already. If not now, then soon, so just come up to the airlock whenever you're ready. We'll all depart together."

"Lead the way, Shepard."

"I have to go put on my armor. I'll meet you down there." With a nod, she headed for her room, and I started the short walk to the front of the Normandy.

When I reached the airlock, Ashley and Kaidan were already there, suited up and ready to go. I still had on my future jacket, with the shield generator.

"No armor, kid?"

"I have some shopping to do on the Citadel, as you can see," I joked.

Ashley scoffed. "Where are you planning on getting the credits to do that?"

I paused. Shit. I didn't have any money, except for my wallet. I think I had about ninety bucks in cash, along with my debit card. I wonder…

"I'll let you borrow some credits and you can just pay me back when you get the chance," Shepard said as she joined us.

I shook my head. I didn't have an omni-tool either, so there was no way to transfer any credits to me. "No thank you. I prefer to get money my own way."

"We don't have time for that," Shepard replied.

"I've got some things I can sell," I argued.

She shrugged. "Alright. Come find us in the Presidium. Don't take too long, we don't want to keep the Council waiting."

"Alright."

The airlock hissed open and we departed the Normandy, headed for the elevator.

_Ding!_

Oh my fucking gosh, that was literally the longest ride I've ever been on. I'm sick of these stupid things already.

"We're headed for the Presidium; see you soon," Shepard called as they walked away. I waved back.

"Okay," I muttered to myself. "Need to find some antique shop or something."

I was able to make it to the Lower Wards with no issues. Except for, of course, I needed to find a shop that took old stuff. Like, _really_ old stuff from a century ago. Whoa, that was weird to think about. Money, and wallets, might as well have been from the Stone Age.

"Okay," I said under my breath. "Maybe I should ask someone?"

A turian passed me and gave me a weird look. Yes, mister, I realize that I am talking to myself. And no, I don't care if you think it's weird. Try being me for ten minutes and see how you end up. If talking to myself is the craziest I do, well, I think that means I've got a pretty good track record.

I picked a random shop and walked inside. A salarian was behind the counter. "Excuse me, sir?"

He looked up from his datapad. "Yes? Can I help you?"

"I was wondering if there's any shops around here that buy…uh, older things."

"You mean antiques and the sort?"

I nodded. It would take a while for me to get used to the idea that everything I've ever known is now considered ancient, at least in this place.

He pointed. "You'll want to go there. Ask for Viseka."

"Thank you very much." He nodded and returned to his datapad.

I left the shop and went in the direction the salarian indicated. Looking up, the sign overhead read "Citadel Antiques."

"Hello?" There was no one behind the counter when I entered. "Is anyone here?"

"Just a minute!" Huh, that voice sounded fairly close.

A minute later, an asari popped up from behind the counter, and I jumped back, freezing into a karate stance. "Holy crap!"

She held up her hands. "Whoa, there! Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."

I straightened up, embarrassed that I'd been so jumpy. "I wasn't scared…"

She smiled. "Of course not. What can I do for you?"

"Are you Viseka?"

She nodded. "I am. And you are…?"

I stuck out my hand. "Allison."

"Nice to meet you. So, what do you need today?"

Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out my wallet. I reached in and removed each of the bills, along with my debit card. "How much can I get for these?"

Her eyes widened. "Are those…real dollar bills? And a wallet? _And _a credit card?" I thought she was going to faint.

"Yeah…wait! Hold on." I reached into my other back pocket and removed my uncle's dog tags and his Purple Heart. "These too." I felt awful about pawning these off, but my uncle had told me, when he gave them to me, that they were now mine to do what I wished.

"Dog tags and Purple Heart too?" I didn't think her eyes could widen any more.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Doesn't the military here have dog tags?"

She nodded. "Yes, they do. But, for some reason, dog tags from a century ago are in a sudden high demand. From what war are they, if I may ask?"

"Both are from the Vietnam War."

"Hmm…quite a controversial war, from what I've heard." She started examining the medal.

"Um, I'm really sorry to rush you, but do you think we could speed this up a little? I kind of have to be somewhere else." I felt like a complete dick, but I didn't want to keep Shepard waiting.

"Oh, yes! I'm so sorry! The items of your kind are so fascinating to me. Hmm, okay. I can offer you forty thousand credits for the Purple Heart and sixty thousand for the dog tags. The wallet is real leather, so I can give you fifteen thousand for that. I can give you five thousand for each of the five dollar bills, eight thousand for each of the ten, and ten thousand each for the three twenties."

My jaw dropped. One hundred and seventy one thousand credits?! Holy shit, if only these things were so valuable back home! "Uh, yeah, that sounds good."

"Excellent! Now, if you'll just open your omni-tool, I can transfer the credits to you."

I grinned sheepishly. "I don't have an omni-tool, actually."

She frowned. "No omni-tool? What, were you living under a rock?"

I laughed. "You could say that. My parents were…eccentric folk."

She shook her head. "You humans can be so odd. Okay, I have an extra omni-tool in the back that I'm willing to part with. But, how much should I charge…?"

"Whatever you want. You're doing me the favor."

She smiled. "You know what? Since you're cute, I'll give it to you for only a thousand credits. I'll be right back." She disappeared through a door in the back.

One hundred and seventy thousand credits. Ain't that something. And she thought I was cute?

Viseka came back, holding a small device. "You just fit this over your wrist, and there you go. Comes with a variety of programs, for various purposes."

I took the device and placed it on my wrist. It lit up and I pressed it, the familiar orange hologram encasing my forearm and hand. "Awesome!"

Viseka opened up her own omni-tool and started pressing buttons. "Let me just transfer those credits…there you go!"

A ping sounded from my omni tool. A message popped up, saying I'd received 170,000 credits. "Cool. Thank you so much, Viseka. You're really saving my ass here."

She smiled coyly. "For an ass as nice as yours? Anytime, sweetie."

I chuckled. "I gotta get going. Maybe I'll see you again, next time I'm on the Citadel."

"I look forward to it."

I left the shop and headed back to the first one. The salarian was still behind the counter, looking at his datapad. "Excuse me?" He looked up. "Oh, welcome back. Did you find Viseka?"

I nodded. "Yes, thank you. I was wondering if you had any armor for sale. And weaponry."

He scratched his chin. "I specialize in non-human armor, but I do have a few human sets in the back that I can bring out. As for weaponry, what exactly were you looking for?"

"Well, I think I was just going to stick with an assault rifle and a pistol? Got some good ones?"

He nodded. "I do. I'll bring it all out to wait. Wait one moment, please." He went through his door in the back.

I figured it had been about ten minutes since Shepard and the others had headed for the Presidium. I gave myself ten more minutes to get there.

The salarian reappeared, with a human assistant, toting a couple of assault rifles and pistols, along with a set of armor. "As it turns out, I only had one remaining set of human armor left. Hopefully, it'll be what you're looking for. As for weapons, these are the choices." He set the weapons down on the counter.

I started to examine them. Picking up a pistol, I was happy to discover there was no scope. I preferred iron sights on my pistols anyway; all of the COD I played really got me used to it. "What about this one?"

"Ah, a Stiletto. That is a decent pistol; it's durable and easy to handle."

"How much?"

"Hmm…twenty thousand credits?"

I nodded. "I'll take it." I took a look at the assault rifles. "Which ones do we have here?"

"A Lancer and a Thunder. The Thunder is more powerful, but also more expensive." I picked it up and tested it out. It wasn't too heavy, and I liked the feel of it. It had a scope, but I didn't like iron sights on assault rifles anyway. Besides, I always picked the Thunder line when I played Mass Effect. I had a soft spot for them. "Okay, how much for it, then?"

"Forty thousand," he said quickly.

I grinned. "Sounds good."

He looked surprised. He probably didn't expect me to have that much. "Excellent. Now, if you'd like to take a look at the armor?"

I put the Thunder back onto the table as his assistant stepped around it to show me the armor. It was gray and red (I could always paint it later) and looked a hell of a lot cooler than armor usually did in the first game. "It's light armor, so it offers the least protection, but definitely allows the most mobility. The shield generator in the back is stronger than the one you're wearing right now, so I could take that one off your hands if you'd like."

"What are you offering?"

He examined it. "Looks rather advanced for a generator so small. How about fifteen thousand credits?"

I paused. "How about I give it to you in exchange for the pistol?"

He smiled. "Ah, so you like to bargain. How refreshing. Alright, human, you've got a deal. And the armor will cost you seventy thousand credits."

I shook his hand. "Good doing business with you." I opened up my omni-tool. I didn't exactly know how to transfer credits, so it took a little digging, but I eventually found a banking program that made it easy.

"Listen, I've got somewhere I need to be right now, so do you think you could just drop off these things at the Normandy? She's sitting in the docking bay right now, Dock 422, I believe."

The salarian paused. "Hmm…well, I don't think Davis is doing anything extremely important, so I'll have him get it to your ship."

"Thank you very much. Just tell them it's for Allison."

The salarian nodded. "I look forward to doing business with you again, Allison."

"As do I…?"

"Morlan." The guy that sent out that spam email in Mass Effect 2? Something about endowment?

"Thank you again, Morlan. And thank you as well, Davis."

I left the shop and headed for nearest Rapid Transit. I got my armor, I got my guns. All that's left now is to head to the meeting with the Council. I doubt having me there is going to change anything.

Time to go hear them completely shut us down.

* * *

**A/N: Well, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed. Leave a review, let me know what you're liking, what you'd wanna see changed, if anything, and we'll see what I can do. Peace out.**

**-DeanneYunFarron**


	4. Holy Shit, It's Garrus-Fucking-Vakarian

**Author's Note: Hello, everybodys! I hope your week is going good, and that the good feelings will continue into the weekend! Anywho, here is the update that you've all been waiting for (hopefully).**

* * *

**Chapter Four: Holy Shit, It's Garrus-Fucking-Vakarian**

* * *

"…The Council would step in if the geth attacked a turian colony!"

"The turians don't found colonies on the borders of the Terminus systems, Ambassador."

Yikes. Honestly, why am I surprised that Udina's already yelling?

The door slid open with a hiss. Anderson, Shepard, Kaidan, Ashley all looked my way, but I was ignored by Udina and the Council. I walked up beside the others to hear the last bits of the conversation.

"Citadel Security is investigating your charges against Saren. We will discuss the C-Sec findings at the hearing. Not before."

The holograms of the Council faded out. Udina sighed angrily, than turned to address Anderson. "Captain Anderson. I see you brought half your team with you."

"Just the ground team from Eden Prime, in case you had any questions," Anderson answered neutrally. My hat's off to you, Cap'n.

"And you've also decided to bring _her_," he added, looking at me.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Anderson nodded after shooting me a warning look. I guess something must have shown in my face, then. "Yes. She was the one who-."

"I have the mission reports," Udina interrupted. "I assume they're accurate?"

Ugh, fuck this guy. I'm not in the mood to listen to his annoying ramblings; I've heard them enough to last me a few lifetimes. But, of course, he just has to find a way for me to get involved.

"The mission on Eden Prime was a chance to prove you could get things done. Instead, Nihlus ends up dead and the beacon was destroyed!" he yelled at Shepard.

"That wasn't her fault! Saren's the one responsible!" I retorted hotly, without thinking.

Udina scoffed. "Seeing as you're the one who received the vision, it would actually make it _your _fault."

I frowned. "Then you shouldn't be blaming Shepard. Either way, it wasn't her doing."

"Hmph. This is what you get for putting a mercenary on your payroll, Captain," Udina sneered.

"I'm not a mercenary," I growled. I was having a real hard time not punching this dick's lights out. "I'm a freelancer."

"There isn't a significant difference between the two," he remarked snidely.

This little…! I went to step forward, but Shepard caught me around the chest. "Don't," she whispered. "You need to calm down."

For a split second, I considered completely ignoring Samantha and severely beating Udina's head in. But, my calmer side spoke to me and said that that would be a terrible idea. So instead, I sighed and relaxed, as Shepard dropped her arm.

"I'm glad to see someone can control her. You 'freelancers' are wild cards. And attacking me would have made your life a living hell," Udina said.

Taking the higher road, I just turned around and gripped the rail tightly, trying to lose myself in the view from up here. It really was quite catching…

"Allison?" I felt someone grasp my shoulder. "It's time to go."

I released the railing and nodded. "Are you okay?" Ashley asked.

I shrugged. "I will be." I looked directly at Shepard. "Thanks for stopping me. I shouldn't have lost control like that."

She grinned. "No problem. I'm just happy I'm not the only one who wants to beat the shit out of him sometimes." Have I ever mentioned how happy I am that this Shepard has a great sense of humor? "Now come on, we need to get the Citadel Tower for the hearing."

Exiting the office, we found a Rapid Transit relatively close to us and set a course for the Citadel Tower. You know, traveling in a flying car was actually kind of familiar to me. I traveled on planes quite frequently; being in the car made me think of a miniature plane. Which makes sense.

As we traveled toward the Tower, I let myself get lost in the surroundings. Now that there was a lull in activity, I was only now really understanding that I was on the _fucking Citadel_. In the middle of space. In only one galaxy of many others.

In a video game.

I clunked my head against the window, staring wistfully at the many landscapes we passed. I just…this didn't make any sense. Why was I here? I had a great life back home: a loving family, amazing friends, I was attending a well-renowned university; I was well on my way to achieving my dream of being a veterinarian. I had very few complaints.

And yet, the biggest of those complaints (which, in reality, was one that most people probably have at least a few times in their lives) is the reason I was brought here. Or so Tyson would have me believe.

And Tyson. I don't know what the hell is up with that guy. He makes a doppelganger of my cousin that died here, not to mention the fact that, according to my background in this place, my family…is dead.

The longer I thought about it, the more I felt like crying. But, why? I didn't believe that whatever Tyson had established as true actually was. Right?

The hover car bumped to a stop, and I was shaken from my thoughts. I subconsciously reached up and found that my cheeks were wet. I quickly wiped away the tears and followed the others out….toward an elevator.

Aw, damn it! How could I not remember that there was another long-ass elevator ride to look forward to? As we clambered in, I leaned against the wall and sighed.

This was gonna take forever.

…..

_Ding!_

FINALLY. Throughout that entire ride, I was fiddling with my omni-tool, trying to get a feel for it. While nosing through the many programs, I was joyous to discover that there was a future form of Temple Run! Granted, the character was on a hover board, and dressed in some skin-tight silver suit. Instead of being chased by a small pack of vicious monkey-things, or by one giant monkey-thing, the dude was being chased by a small pack of varren, as well as a giant rachni.

The others were giving me some very odd looks as I stood there, probably giggling like a child. Sue me; it was exciting to find something somewhat familiar to me. And besides, in the original Temple Run game, and in its sequel, I could never get over a score of 700,000. I was well on my way toward a million and a half when the elevator finally reached our destination.

I closed the interface as the doors slid open and Kaidan nudged me as we walked out. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone get so excited over playing _Space Run._"

I chuckled. Of course they couldn't think of a name any more creative. "Yeah, well, don't forget, I've never had an omni-tool. And it seems like a really awesome game."

He shook his head. "I've never met anyone like you, Allison."

I winked. "You're welcome."

Up ahead, I could see two turians arguing animatedly. That meant that it was time for _the _Garrus Vakarian to be introduced for the first time.

"…Your investigation's over, Garrus." The other turian turned on his heel and walked away. Garrus sighed and shook his head. He gave us a quick look-over as we approached, and addressed Shepard directly. "Commander Shepard? Garrus Vakarian." Okay, seriously, I nearly had to physically restrain myself to keep from fangirling over him. _His voice…_so awesome!

Shepard nodded at him. "A pleasure to meet you, Garrus. Mind telling me what your interest in Saren is?"

"I was the officer in charge of investigating him," Garrus replied.

"Sounds like you really want to bring him down." Samantha sounded almost…intrigued? Excited? I couldn't really tell, but I pushed it out of my mind. Probably wasn't all that important anyway.

"I don't trust him at all. I know he's up to something, and it's nothing good," Garrus said angrily. "But he's a Spectre; everything he touches is classified. I can't get any hard evidence against him."

"Still, it's nice to know we have some support on our side," Shepard responded merrily.

"Commander, I think the Council is ready for us." Well, thank you for bringing us back on track, Kaidan. How kind of you. Although, he's probably right. I know the Council isn't going to believe us right away anyway, but keeping them waiting any longer sure won't win us any brownie points.

Shepard nodded to Garrus in farewell, and we followed her toward the place of meeting. From behind us, I could hear Garrus call out, "I hope you have better luck than I do, Shepard!"

We got to the steps and Samantha turned to address me. "Allison, I want you to stay here."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Uh, sure, but can I ask why?"

"The Council knows next to nothing about you, and after your little spectacle with Udina, I don't want you accidentally losing your temper in there. This is a very delicate matter that we're going to discuss, and I'd also rather not have their first impression of you be that of just some short-tempered human from Earth that got caught up in something much bigger than them."

I had to bite my tongue, pretty hard, to resist hotly retorting that they weren't going to believe us, regardless of who may be there. So instead, I just nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll just wait out here quietly and patiently, shall I?"

She smirked at my response. Ashley and Kaidan were on her heels as she ascended the stairs to where the Council was waiting.

I didn't know exactly how long the meeting would take; after my first playthrough, I would always skip past the dialogue pretty quickly. I stuck to meandering around near the stairs; even from down here, I could hear Shepard's angry remarks to whatever bullshit the Council was trying to put past her.

Geez, and she said I was short-tempered!

From my position in front of the stairs, I had a nice view of the rest of the area (as well as that stupid elevator) and I allowed myself to just enjoy the moment in time. Sure, I was stuck in a world that shouldn't exist, but at least it was a beautiful world. My brother would be so jealous right now; it was he who introduced me to the game in the first place.

As the thought hit my brain, I felt my eyes water again. Son of a bitch…

_You've got to stop thinking about this, Allison. None of it is real, none of it. Your family isn't dead, and sooner or later you're gonna wake up from this dream, and realize it was just that. You didn't actually die, Tyson isn't actually a person, or the fucking Grim Reaper, and you're not actually here._

Unsurprisingly, my inner voice was not giving a very convincing argument.

* * *

Shepard came charging down the stairs ten minutes later, headed in my direction, with her face set in angry lines. I pushed up from my reclining position against the wall and uncrossed my arms. "I'll assume by your jovial face that everything went swimmingly? The Council believes us outright and they are currently taking drastic steps in taking down Saren?"

She glared at me. "Not even close. I'm not in the mood to talk about it right now." She whipped around and headed for the elevator, us in her wake.

I leaned down a little to whisper to Ashley. "So what did they say?"

"What do you think? They basically called Shepard a liar; there's no way they'll even start to believe that their poster child is working with the geth without solid evidence."

"Where are we headed now?"

"We need to find that turian from before. Garrus, I think his name was? The commander thinks he'll be the best way to get something on Saren."

"Oh? How exactly do we find him, then?"

"The captain told us about some guy named Harkin; apparently, he knows where we can find the turian," Ashley explained. "He's supposed to be drinking his time away in Chora's Den, so that's where we're headed now."

I nodded in response as she and I hurried to catch up with Shepard and Kaidan.

* * *

As soon as we walked in, I felt like my head was on a hinge. I couldn't stop looking in every direction as we looked for Harkin. I was old enough to go to clubs back home, but I just never really took advantage of that. I was always so busy with my studies so I didn't really have all that much time to do so.

"You alright, kid?" Kaidan asked. Shepard had split us up into two teams; she and Ashley would sweep the floor, while Kaidan and I headed to the bar for a more direct approach. In the game, the place had been scarcely populated; here, it was like every square foot of floor space was taken up by bodies swaying in tune to the pulsing music. I have to say, this place had so much more life than I would have ever thought.

Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I quickly responded to Kaidan's question. "Yeah, I'm good. I've just never been to a place like this before. It's new, but I definitely like it."

He laughed. "Well then, it's too bad that we're on a mission right now. I could teach you the ropes of going clubbing."

I cocked an eyebrow. That was unexpected. "You? Seriously?"

"What? Did you think I was too goody-goody for that? I'll have you know, kid, before joining the Alliance, I was quite the partygoer. And something like that, it just never leaves you, you know?"

Okay, this is throwing me for a serious loop right now. Who knew Kaidan had been the party type?

"Alright. Next time we've got some time, you'll have to do just that for me."

"It's a date, then." He immediately blushed and started spluttering. "I-I mean, not like a _real _date or anything. I mean, not that y-you're not…you know, but…"

I held up a hand. "Relax, Kaidan. I know what you meant." I grinned widely. "It is a pretty common expression, after all."

He visibly calmed. "Sorry. I just didn't want you getting the wrong idea. I like you, kid, but not like that."

"Same here. You're a pretty cool guy, Kaidan. But only pretty cool."

"Let's just go do what we were asked already," he said, rolling his eyes. I followed closely behind him, trying not to get lost in the crowd.

We were finally able to push our way through and collided softly with the counter. The turian bartender gave us a wide smile as he cleaned the glass. "What can I get for you two?"

"Some information, if you'd be so kind."

He nodded. "Sure, what do you want to know?"

"Have you seen a guy named Harkin? We're told he spends a lot of time here," Kaidan said.

The turian frowned slightly. "Yeah, I know Harkin. Son of a bitch is always drinking up a mighty storm around here, and talking up an even bigger one." He pointed toward a table, where Samantha and Ashley were already arguing with him. "That's his regular spot over there." He regarded me closely. "I'd be careful, miss. He likes to be crude toward pretty women. Although, with your boyfriend here, I'm sure he'll think twice."

I reddened and shook my head. "He's not my…"

Kaidan interrupted me. "Thank you, sir. I'll make sure my girlfriend's honor is protected. He won't get to say a word to her."

The bartender nodded and smiled again. "You two have a safe night, and maybe I'll see you again."

As we walked toward Harkin's table, I smacked Kaidan on the arm. "What the hell?"

He grinned at me. "That's payback, for before."

I just shook my head. Well played, Alenko.

Shepard looked up when we got there. "Hey."

I glanced at Harkin before returning the greeting. "Everything alright here?"

"It will be, sweetie. Why don't you take a seat and Harkin'll buy you a drink?" the only sitting occupant slurred at me.

I put a finger to my chin in mock thought. "Who, me? Why, whatever have I done to deserve so?"

He gave me a lecherous look and chuckled suggestively. "You're a fine piece of ass, what can I say?" He motioned to Shepard and Ashley, who looked ready to murder him and throw his body out of an airlock. "You three ladies are gorgeous; I'd love to have you warm my bed tonight." He leaned forward and made a grab at Shepard. "I could show you things you wouldn't believe."

Shepard immediately punched him square in the nose. I winced as I heard the bone break.

"Argh! God damn it, you fucking bitch! What'd you go and do that for?" he screamed at her, trying to stem the free-flowing blood.

She pulled out her pistol (when did she get another one?) and placed it to his temple. "Try that again, and I'll paint the walls with your brain matter, you pig."

Whoa. That certainly wasn't a Renegade option in the game. Points to Samantha thought, Harkin was kind of disgusting. Scratch that, he was really disgusting.

He held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright! What do you want?" His voice was now even more slurred due to the broken nose.

"You know exactly what I want; it's the first thing I asked you when I got here," she snarled.

I tapped her on the shoulder. "Maybe we should fix his nose up first. He may be more inclined to talk," I whispered in her ear.

"I don't want to waste medi-gel on this asshole!"

"We need to find Garrus, Commander. This guy is our only option at this point." Was I really lecturing Shepard? Talk about a role reversal.

She sighed. "Fine." She helped him to reset the bone and apply the gel. He rubbed his nose and looked at me appreciatively. "Thanks, kid."

"Don't thank me yet. She may just break it again, depending on how cooperative you are."

"Yeah, yeah." He waved my statement away. "What was it you said? You wanted to find some turian, was it?"

"Garrus Vakarian," she spoke with gritted teeth.

Harkin chuckled. "Garrus, huh? You must be with Anderson, then? Haha, old bastard must still be trying to bring down Saren."

"Do you know something about the captain?" Samantha asked.

He laughed again. "Old Anderson used to be a Spectre. It was all hush-hush, naturally, but he was. Then, he went and screwed it all up. He blamed Saren for it all, so of course that got him booted out real quick. I'll take it he still hasn't let it go, even after twenty years, if he's got you looking for Garrus."

Shepard looked slightly taken aback by the news, as did Ashley and Kaidan. I suppose I might've stood out a little, what with my neutral face and all.

"Whatever his reasons were, and whatever happened in his past is not my concern right now." Shepard was able to recover rather quickly. "Just tell me where to find Garrus."

"The turian's been sniffing around Dr. Michel's office. She runs a med clinic on the other side of the Wards. Last I heard about it, that's where he was headed."

Shepard turned to us. "Alright, guys, we know where to go from here." She looked back at Harkin with a fierce scowl. "I appreciate you telling us what we needed to know."

He smiled humorlessly. "And I appreciate you breaking my nose, bitch," he snarled at her.

I could see Samantha ready to take another swing, but I beat her to it. I deftly swung a leg up and kicked his junk into his throat. Now, I'm not one to play dirty like this, but this ass wipe seriously deserved it.

He fell out of seat and hunched over in pain, little beads of sweat peppering his face. "Ohh…" he groaned.

"Next time, I'll just shoot 'em off," I warned. I could see security approaching, along with the turian bartender from earlier. I guess we were making more of a scene than we thought.

"What's going on here?" the bartender asked as they reached us.

I gestured to Harkin curled up on the ground. "We were just teaching Harkin here a lesson about manners."

His mandibles flared ever so slightly. Looking to the two bodyguards, a pair of krogan, he nodded at them. "It's alright. I can vouch for the human, they won't be any trouble."

One of the krogan grunted in response, while the other laughed deeply. "I guess you do have a quad in there somewhere after all, Harkin."

I muttered a quick, "Thanks," to the bartender and we made a swift exit. Once we got clear out of there, Shepard turned to me. "I appreciate what you did back there, Allison."

I shrugged. "Eh. You were planning on doing the same, anyway. You already had the fun of breaking his nose, so I figured I should get a shot in too."

She smiled. "Well, anyway. Thank you for standing up for me." She pushed me lightly. "But, next time, let me handle it. I can take care of myself."

I grinned back at her. "I can only imagine."

* * *

Dr. Michel's clinic wasn't ridiculously far from Chora's Den, and on the way, we passed the Citadel Antiques store. I saw Viseka from afar, and waved to her. She responded enthusiastically, adding a quick wink and a suggestive smile.

I could feel my cheeks heat up lightly as I lowered my hand.

Ashley nudged me. "Who's the asari?"

"Viseka. She was the one I was able to get some credits from, and she even helped me out with this omni-tool."

"You sure made friends quickly," she commented absently.

"What can I say? I have a great personality," I joked.

Up ahead, Shepard was just reaching the clinic and held up a hand to stop us. "I hear voices in there, and they don't sound too happy. Keep your guard up."

I had neglected to bring Samantha's pistol; in my haste to get to the airlock to leave the Normandy, I had tossed it on top of my bunk. I had completely forgotten about Fist's thugs, and all that fun stuff. So, I opted to stay in the back, with Shepard, Kaidan and Ashley in front. That way, I had a far less chance of getting shot.

I didn't want to be the dumbass who brought a fist to a gun fight.

We quietly opened the door (well, we tried to be, but the hiss that indicates when a door opens isn't exactly all that quiet) and crouched down behind a counter, with Shepard at the front slightly leaning out of cover to gauge the situation.

"Please! I didn't tell anyone, I swear!" Dr. Michel was pleading with the thugs.

"Smart move, Doc," one of them answered. "Now, if Garrus comes hanging around, I hope you'll stay smart."

Shepard jumped out of cover, her pistol held out in front of her, and Ashley and Kaidan quickly followed. I elected to stay in cover, mostly because I had no weapon and would be more of a liability than anything.

The thug grabbed the doctor and held her hostage, while aiming his own weapon at my three companions. "Who the hell are you?"

"Let her go!" Samantha commanded.

A loud shot rang out, and I peeked my head over my makeshift cover to spot the thug go down in a spray of blood and brain matter. I looked at Shepard, who seemed as surprised as the other thugs were.

I whipped my head around, trying to find Garrus. I know he was the one who shot the guy, but he should've been at the entrance, near us.

The turian in question stepped out from cover on the far side of the room. What the hell? How'd he get over there? Was there a second entrance I didn't know about?

As soon as he made himself seen, all hell broke loose. I ducked back behind the counter as wild shots started flying everywhere. Fist's thugs weren't the best shots, but a few bullets did hit close to where I was hiding. They must have spotted my head when I briefly broke cover.

Thankfully, my group was much better in terms of both accuracy and precision, so it wasn't too long before I heard a prominent lull in the gunfire.

I received a sharp tap to the head from Ashley to let me know that it was safe to come out.

"Perfect timing, Shepard. Gave me a clear shot at that bastard," Garrus greeted us.

Samantha crossed her arms. "It was a nice shot, Garrus, but what were you thinking? You could have hit Dr. Michel!"

"I didn't mean to-I just reacted," he said sheepishly. He then quickly addressed the doctor. "Dr. Michel, are you hurt?"

She rubbed at her eyes. "No, no, I'm alright. Thanks to all of you. I'm just glad you showed up when you did."

"Dr. Michel, if you tell us who those men were working for, we can protect you." Shepard was doing her best to set the doctor at ease. Of course, I already knew they worked for Fist, but I would stay quiet about that. I'm really trying my best not to fuck up the canon. At least, not too much.

She hesitated, and Shepard placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You can trust us, Doctor."

"…Those men worked for Fist. They were trying to shut me up, to keep me from telling Garrus about the quarian," she finally relented.

Shepard rubbed her chin. "This has something to do with the investigation into Saren, doesn't it?"

Dr. Michel nodded. "Yes. A few days ago, a quarian showed up here in my clinic. She had been shot, but refused to tell me who did it. She was clearly scared, and probably on the run. She was asking about the Shadow Broker; she wanted to trade information for safety."

"Where is she now?"

"I put her in contact with Fist. He's an agent for the Shadow Broker," she answered.

"Not anymore," Garrus interjected. "Now he's aligned with Saren, and the Shadow Broker isn't too happy about that."

"Fist betrayed the Shadow Broker?" the doctor asked incredulously. "That's rather stupid, even for him. Saren must have made him quite the offer."

"That quarian must have something Saren wants to get his hands on. Something that's worth even crossing the Shadow Broker," Garrus concluded.

"Maybe it's evidence?" I decided to join the conversation; I was getting kind of bored just listening to them take forever to get where they needed to be. A little push in the right direction couldn't hurt, could it? "Maybe something that ties Saren to the geth?"

Dr. Michel snapped her fingers. "Yes, that may be it! I remember her information had something to do with the geth."

"There's no way the Council can ignore this; we need to present this new information to them!" Garrus said excitedly.

"Looks like it's time to pay Fist a visit," Shepard said.

"This is your show, Shepard," Garrus started. "But, I want to bring down Saren just as much as you. So, I'm coming along!"

Shepard crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "You're a turian. Why do you want to bring him down so badly?"

"He's a traitor to the Council, and a disgrace to my people," Garrus answered.

Shepard nodded, satisfied, and stuck out a hand. "Welcome aboard, Garrus."

Garrus shook the hand offered to him. "You won't regret this, Commander. You know, we aren't the only ones after Fist. The Shadow Broker sent a krogan bounty hunter to take him out, Wrex."

Shepard nodded again. "Yeah, we actually ran into him having an argument with the bouncer at Fist's club. Think he's worth trying to recruit?"

"A krogan would most likely come in handy," Garrus replied. "Last I saw, he was at C-Sec academy."

"What's he doing there?" Kaidan asked.

"Fist accused him of making threats, so we brought him in for a little chat," Garrus explained. "If we hurry, we can catch him before he heads out."

"Sounds like a plan." Shepard looked at all of us. "I can tell it's going to get a little crowded; Allison, would you mind heading back to the Normandy? I don't want too many of us traveling around together, people might get suspicious. You also don't have a weapon, or armor, with you, so you won't really be much help if another fight breaks out. And I'm pretty sure one will."

Definite points for bluntness, I suppose, but whatever, so I just shrugged in response; it didn't really bother me at all. "Sure. Gives me a chance to try out my new toys."

She grinned. "That's right, you bought a few things while you were here. Well, try not to blow up the ship, will you?"

"No promises."

We waved a quick goodbye to Dr. Michel and exited the clinic. We should have been heading in the same direction until C-Sec, but I decided to head back over to Citadel Antiques, so I said my farewells to the crew.

"Hey, Viseka," I greeted the asari as I walked in.

She looked up from the datapad she was reading. "Oh, hey, Allison! Long time, no see."

I smiled. "Yeah, I couldn't stand to be away from you for so long."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Well, I can certainly understand that."

"So, what are you reading there?" I decided to change the subject, pointing to the datapad.

"Oh, just some light reading on the Vietnam War. Getting those dogtags and stuff from you got me interested; I never knew much about it, except for basic things, so I decided to look it up. Actually, I don't really know much of anything in depth of human history."

"That's a shame. We're such an interesting race," I teased.

She nodded, completely oblivious to my joking. "Yes, you really are. I'm almost sad that you hadn't joined the galactic community earlier."

"'Almost sad'?"

She shrugged. "Well, you know…"

I laughed. "Believe me, I know. We're not exactly the most level-headed of all races, that's for sure."

She giggled. "No, you aren't. But that's part of what makes you so fascinating." She put the datapad down and regarded me closely. "So, what brings you back here so soon?"

"I don't know. I just figured I could stop by, say hey. We'll probably be leaving soon, so we may not be back for a while. Thought I should let you know that."

"Well, aren't you sweet? Thank you, Allison. I look forward to seeing you when you dock here again, whenever that may be."

I smiled widely. "Don't worry, I'm sure it won't be too long before we're back. So don't be too sad."

"Uh, who was the one who said they couldn't stand being away from me for too long?" she asked teasingly.

"Touché. Well, anyway, I'd better get going." I shook her hand briefly. Before I stepped out, I turned back and gave her a small wave. "See you when I see you."

"Goodbye, Allison. Always a pleasure."

Leaving the store, I started the walk toward C-Sec. Along the way, I started getting slightly excited at the prospect of trying on my armor and testing out my weapons. In the game, I always had a blast customizing, but I could only imagine how much fun it would be to actually do it in person.

As I walked, I got the strange feeling that someone was watching me. I whipped around quickly to find no one there. That was odd; I was on the Citadel, after all. It should be bustling with people. Where did everyone go?

I had no time to find that out, because when I turned around, I was suddenly thrust into darkness. I could tell that someone had placed a bag over my head, while simultaneously binding my hands. I struggled with my attacker, lashing out. My fists connected with a face and I couldn't see who it was, but I heard the contact with a savage pleasure.

Whoever it was let go of my shoulders, probably in favor of cradling their face. I went to try to remove the bindings on my hands, but a second person quickly took the place of the first. I felt them punch me in my solar plexus, and I doubled over, coughing. They followed up with a knee to my own face, and I hit the ground.

I didn't know how many there were, but if felt like quite a few, judging by how many feet I felt kicking me in the stomach and head.

I'd been in pain before, sure, but nothing like this. I was surprised I hadn't passed out already; I was light-headed, and it was starting to hurt when I breathed. Finally, _finally, _they stopped. I curled up in a fit of misery on the ground. I still couldn't see anything, and that scared me more than I would ever admit.

"Dumb bitch," I heard someone snarl. "Fist better pay us extra for this."

Fist? What the hell? Why did Fist send someone after me? This wasn't supposed to happen this way, not at all.

"Get up!" I was roughly pulled to my feet. As much as I hurt, I swung out a second time, once again connecting with someone with my bound hands.

"Fuck this!"

I stopped my struggling, trying to use my other senses to figure out what was happening. It sounded like someone had pulled out a gun. Oh, shit! That wasn't good. I immediately started running; I still had no idea where I was, but hopefully I wouldn't hit a wall or anything. I really wished I could see where I was going, but my hands were still bound and trying to stop and take off the bindings in this situation was not only fucking stupid, but also suicidal.

_Bang!_

I heard the sound of a shot being fired much quicker than I felt it. The bullet hit my left shoulder and I cried out, falling to the ground again.

_Damn it…of course I sold that stinking shield generator, _I managed to think weakly. I rolled over, feeling the stickiness of my own blood. From what I could tell, quite a bit of it was seeping out. It made me wonder if the bullet was still in there, or if it had been a clean shot.

I heard heavy footfalls approaching, and I lamely tried to crawl away, but the pain shooting through my shoulder was hindering me greatly. Whoever approached me harshly grabbed my injured appendage, and I whimpered, but ceased all previous activity.

"Fucking bitch," he muttered. "You're more trouble than you're worth."

A white-hot pain spread from my temple, and I blacked out.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, I just want to say, I am once again so sorry for being so late with this update. I didn't even realize how long it had been until I checked the date of the last chapter I put out. Hopefully, the quality of this one makes up for me being so tardy :D. Anywho, I hope all of you enjoyed, and I'll see you next time.**

**-DeanneYunFarron**

**P.S. Don't forget to leave a review for me, let me know how I'm doing. It helps, it really does.**

**P.P.S. Oh, I almost forgot. A big thank you to Endrius333! I don't know if this was exactly what you had had in mind, but I took a little liberty with your idea. And I'm sure I'll end up implementing it again. So, muchas gracias!**

**P.P.P.S. I hope none of y'all mind that I was much more free with the dialogue this time around. NoSinglixRule mentioned that I didn't have to be so cut and dry with the dialogue, so I wasn't. Thanks for the suggestion, my friend, and I hope that it made for a slightly more interesting read. The points being made are still the same, anyway, so... :D**


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